CATHOLIC DEAF CONFERENCE, ROME, ITALY
THURSDAY, 11/20: At the beginning of our trip, someone asked JAMES DUNNE, an 80 year old, deaf man, why he had come on this journey. He said/signed, "Because I wanted to be a part of history." Yesterday, Jim got his wish!
The morning began, once again, amazingly bright and sunny in Rome. The walk from our hotel to the meeting hall is several blocks, buy you have to keep your eyes open. Roman traffic means people on motor bikes coming from all directions, and "Smart" cars pulling out of impossibly tiny parking spaces. The morning session began with a number of wonderful speakers addressing, "THE FAMILY AND DEAF PEOPLE". MS. MAURA BUCKLEY, a deaf, married woman from Ireland, gave a beautiful talk about her life as a wife, mother, grandmother; someone who lost a son at age 32; a dedicated teacher and catechist for over 30 years with deaf children.Then, we had three couples from Italy: a deaf couple with hearing children; a couple where the husband is deaf and the wife is hearing with "2 1/2" children(she is expecting); and a hearing couple with three children(2 deaf, one hearing). All talked very honestly about their struggles to make their marriages work and raise families in a truly Catholic/Christian way.Each family said that deafness at times made these efforts more difficult, yet ALL said/signed that the deafness had also strengthened their love with the family.
How did communication work at these meetings? At every chair, there was an ear phone for hearing people.If the presenter was hearing and spoke, there were four voice interpreters(English, Spanish, Italian, French) who translated the talk into one of the four languages. If the person signed, then the voice interpreter spoke into a microphone, the message was translated. The sign-language interpreters had special ear phones to hear the presentation, then translate into sign. At one point yesterday, I counted ten different sign-languages being used in the hall.
At 10:45, the entire group of 500 people left the hall, and walked around the back of St. Peter's Basilica through a beautiful garden. Then, we climbed four flights of marble stairs to the meeting hall of St. Clement VIII. (It was in this hall decorated with fantastic art that the wake for Pope John Paul II was held for bishops, priests, and the Vatican workers before his public wake at St. Peter's.) We filled this large room, and then...HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI arrived. The room went crazy with cameras flashing, people cheering, and deaf people waving their arms/hands in "applause".. The Pope spoke in Italian. Luckily, MSGR GLENN NELSON from Rockford, IL who knows Italian was able to translate into American Sign-Language. The Pope spoke of how blessed the Church was by the presence of our group. He encouraged us to continue the work we do. He said that, "the deaf people of our Church have received the Good News of Jesus, but now have the duty to go and share that same Good News with the rest of the world!" Jim Dunne got his wish; he witnessed history happen!
After, I had a lunch meeting with a group of deaf, including a deaf priest, from Spain. They wanted to talk about World Youth Week in Madrid, Spain in 2011.They have developed a good plan for deaf young adults to participate in the entire week, Aug. 15-21, 2011.
The afternoon session, beginning at 4pm, had terrific presenters, including a deaf-blind priest, FR. CYRIL AXELROD, who works in London after years of working in South Africa; IAN ROBERTSON who is a good friend and co-worker from FLORIDA; and Sr. VITTORINA CARLI, a deaf Sister who works with deaf children in Italy. Finally, after all this, I had a meeting with a group of Pastoral Workers from Mexico who asked me to come to Mexico next year to talk to the priests there about pastoral work with the deaf.
It was a long, busy, exhausting, inspiring, historic day. God has blessed us throughout this trip and Conference.
The morning began, once again, amazingly bright and sunny in Rome. The walk from our hotel to the meeting hall is several blocks, buy you have to keep your eyes open. Roman traffic means people on motor bikes coming from all directions, and "Smart" cars pulling out of impossibly tiny parking spaces. The morning session began with a number of wonderful speakers addressing, "THE FAMILY AND DEAF PEOPLE". MS. MAURA BUCKLEY, a deaf, married woman from Ireland, gave a beautiful talk about her life as a wife, mother, grandmother; someone who lost a son at age 32; a dedicated teacher and catechist for over 30 years with deaf children.Then, we had three couples from Italy: a deaf couple with hearing children; a couple where the husband is deaf and the wife is hearing with "2 1/2" children(she is expecting); and a hearing couple with three children(2 deaf, one hearing). All talked very honestly about their struggles to make their marriages work and raise families in a truly Catholic/Christian way.Each family said that deafness at times made these efforts more difficult, yet ALL said/signed that the deafness had also strengthened their love with the family.
How did communication work at these meetings? At every chair, there was an ear phone for hearing people.If the presenter was hearing and spoke, there were four voice interpreters(English, Spanish, Italian, French) who translated the talk into one of the four languages. If the person signed, then the voice interpreter spoke into a microphone, the message was translated. The sign-language interpreters had special ear phones to hear the presentation, then translate into sign. At one point yesterday, I counted ten different sign-languages being used in the hall.
At 10:45, the entire group of 500 people left the hall, and walked around the back of St. Peter's Basilica through a beautiful garden. Then, we climbed four flights of marble stairs to the meeting hall of St. Clement VIII. (It was in this hall decorated with fantastic art that the wake for Pope John Paul II was held for bishops, priests, and the Vatican workers before his public wake at St. Peter's.) We filled this large room, and then...HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI arrived. The room went crazy with cameras flashing, people cheering, and deaf people waving their arms/hands in "applause".. The Pope spoke in Italian. Luckily, MSGR GLENN NELSON from Rockford, IL who knows Italian was able to translate into American Sign-Language. The Pope spoke of how blessed the Church was by the presence of our group. He encouraged us to continue the work we do. He said that, "the deaf people of our Church have received the Good News of Jesus, but now have the duty to go and share that same Good News with the rest of the world!" Jim Dunne got his wish; he witnessed history happen!
After, I had a lunch meeting with a group of deaf, including a deaf priest, from Spain. They wanted to talk about World Youth Week in Madrid, Spain in 2011.They have developed a good plan for deaf young adults to participate in the entire week, Aug. 15-21, 2011.
The afternoon session, beginning at 4pm, had terrific presenters, including a deaf-blind priest, FR. CYRIL AXELROD, who works in London after years of working in South Africa; IAN ROBERTSON who is a good friend and co-worker from FLORIDA; and Sr. VITTORINA CARLI, a deaf Sister who works with deaf children in Italy. Finally, after all this, I had a meeting with a group of Pastoral Workers from Mexico who asked me to come to Mexico next year to talk to the priests there about pastoral work with the deaf.
It was a long, busy, exhausting, inspiring, historic day. God has blessed us throughout this trip and Conference.
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