NEWS DEAF
Seoul Church to ordain 1,000th priest, including second deaf person in its history
The Archdiocese of Seoul, South Korea, will reach the number of 1,000 priests (including those belonging to religious orders), when 26 deacons will be ordained in the Myeongdong Cathedral on February 7.
In addition, the second deaf priest in the history of the local Church will receive holy orders: Kim Dong-jun, 18 years after Fr. Park Min-seo. According to the Vatican agency Fides, Fr. Kim will work in pastoral care with deaf people. Two younger brothers will also be ordained priests, Ryu Ho-jun and Kim Yong-woo, whose relatives were ordained in 2023.
Good News: today Friday February 7, 2025, Father Dong (deaf) ordained "second deaf priest in South Korea in Seoul with the Bishop of Seoul
NEWS FOR DEAF
Hna. Judith Beule
Dear congregationMy name is sister Judith.I am a young nun in the community of Hermanas de Santa María Magdalena Postel (SMMP). I am 27 years old and I come from the beautiful Sauerland. I am a trained Montessori educator.I have a hearing disability myself and have expressed the desire to work more in the field of sign language, people with hearing disabilities in kindergarten or pastoral care for the deaf.So, in October of last year I started a study called Deaf Studies to gain more experience in the area of the deaf community / sign language community and to expand and deepen my knowledge of sign language.Since it is a deep desire to work later on pastoral care for the deaf, I would like to do an internship in your community.I also look forward to many new experiences that will help me on my way and give me impressions about pastoral care for the deaf.I look forward to a good cooperation.
Ordination in Kerala of Fr. Thermadom, India's first deaf priest
A 38-year-old member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, he graduated in Mumbai before embracing religious life. The new priest told AsiaNews: "I feel called to offer the sacraments in Indian Sign Language to all deaf Catholics in the country and to support their vocations."
Thrissur (AsiaNews) – In Thrissur, in the Indian state of Kerala, Deacon Joseph Thermadom, who is deaf and speech-impaired, was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross by Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath. According to Indian sources, Thermadom is the first person with this type of disability to be ordained a priest in the Catholic Church in the country. There are 26 such priests worldwide, and there is only one precedent in Asia. The ordination ceremony took place on Thursday, May 2, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows. The new priest celebrates the liturgy in sign language.
"In my vocation and mission," Father Thermadom told AsiaNews, "I feel called first and foremost to offer the sacraments in Indian Sign Language to all deaf Catholics in the country. I will also support God's call to deaf people to the priesthood and consecrated life, reminding everyone of the verse in Leviticus, 'You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God,'" the Bible's positive affirmation regarding deaf people. There are nearly 60 million people in India with speech and hearing difficulties.
Thermadom, now 38, was born deaf and speech-impaired. The son of Thomas and Rosy—along with his brother, who was also hard of hearing—he studied in Mumbai and earned a licentiate before embracing religious life. He attended theology courses at the Dominican Missionary Apostolate for the Deaf in the United States and then returned to India, where he came into contact with the Congregation of Holy Cross through its ministry for the deaf. Expressing his desire to join them, he joined the Aymanam community in 2017. He made his first profession in 2020 at the Holy Cross Novitiate in Yercaud, Tamil Nadu, and in August became the first deaf person to make definitive profession in the congregation.