DCYIA and its volunteers worked to put together a program, enlist speakers, raise money to make this all happen. a team of 27 people (including the DCYIA Board), hearing and deaf, men and women, lay and religious, arrived in Rome and went to work.

After a wonderful Mass at the chapel of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with Fr. Shawn Carey,  Deaf and Hearing Families and friends from Germany, Italy, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, United States, Ireland, UK, Cambodia, Vietnam, Ukraine,and more gathered for registration and a great reunion.  After a wonderful Mass at the chapel of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with Fr. Shawn Carey, Deaf and Hearing Families and friends from Germany, Italy, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, United States, Ireland, UK, Cambodia, Vietnam, Ukraine,and more gathered for registration and a great reunion. 

An organized visit to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel with deaf tour guides; a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica celebrated by Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States for the Vatican. Despite admitting he had never celebrated a Mass with sign-language interpreters, the Archbishop gave a wonderful homily on the Mark 7 Gospel story of Jesus and the man who was deaf. The experience of having Mass interpreted in five different sign-languages was impressive and very inspiring to many people who had never attended a Mass like this.

Our entire group gathered in the Paul VI Hall. Pope Francis arrived. He greeted  DCYIA and  congratulated us for our work.  He went and spent time with every person in our group. It is hard to put into any adequate words the feelings of our Deaf people, many of them from poor situations, who were able to meet and greet the Pope, with sign-language interpreters on each side of him. People were stunned into tears of joy and amazement. Seeing the Pope SEE the deaf and CONVERSE with the deaf was something I will never forget. It took 13 years, but it was worth it. The Pope himself seemed very moved by the experience, especially in meeting two Deaf priests, Fr. Shawn Carey and Fr. Chris Klusman and two Deaf deacons, Pat Graybill (our president of the board) and Josef Rothkopf   from Germany.Our entire group gathered in the Paul VI Hall. Pope Francis arrived. He greeted DCYIA and congratulated us for our work. He went and spent time with every person in our group. It is hard to put into any adequate words the feelings of our Deaf people, many of them from poor situations, who were able to meet and greet the Pope, with sign-language interpreters on each side of him. People were stunned into tears of joy and amazement. Seeing the Pope SEE the deaf and CONVERSE with the deaf was something I will never forget. It took 13 years, but it was worth it. The Pope himself seemed very moved by the experience, especially in meeting two Deaf priests, Fr. Shawn Carey and Fr. Chris Klusman and two Deaf deacons, Pat Graybill (our president of the board) and Josef Rothkopf from Germany.

We held an excellent Conference at the Augustinian College on the situation of Deaf people and the Catholic Church “A time to walk with Jesus”. Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the newly constituted Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, and a panel of deaf pastoral workers, Sr. Bonnie Mcmenamin SSJ prayer service, made this a day never to be forgotten. (The “witness” and testimony of those who participated in the deaf panel was particularly powerful.)  Cardinal Turkson referenced the Recommendations we had written in 2009 as a good blue-print for the Church to follow in its ministry with deaf persons.We held an excellent Conference at the Augustinian College on the situation of Deaf people and the Catholic Church “A time to walk with Jesus”. Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the newly constituted Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, and a panel of deaf pastoral workers, Sr. Bonnie Mcmenamin SSJ prayer service, made this a day never to be forgotten. (The “witness” and testimony of those who participated in the deaf panel was particularly powerful.) Cardinal Turkson referenced the Recommendations we had written in 2009 as a good blue-print for the Church to follow in its ministry with deaf persons.

A tour of the colliseum with Deaf Tour guides that morning, and a final traditional italian pizza meal closed our pilgrimage and celebrations, with a sense of faith, community and friendship.

One  consequence of this trip was publicity, not only for DCYIA, but for deaf people in the Church. A reporter from “America” magazine, a large-circulation Catholic magazine in the USA, interviewed me and others for a story.  Pat Graybill’s interview on an Italian Publication called Servizio Informazione Religiosa (SIR) has been circulated throughout the deaf community.   L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, had a nice follow-up story about DCYIA and what happened at the audience.  There has been a great deal of news about our time in Rome on social media.  A good lesson for us re: the importance of media, social and otherwise.      One consequence of this trip was publicity, not only for DCYIA, but for deaf people in the Church. A reporter from “America” magazine, a large-circulation Catholic magazine in the USA, interviewed me and others for a story. Pat Graybill’s interview on an Italian Publication called Servizio Informazione Religiosa (SIR) has been circulated throughout the deaf community. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, had a nice follow-up story about DCYIA and what happened at the audience. There has been a great deal of news about our time in Rome on social media. A good lesson for us re: the importance of media, social and otherwise. 

We had help! Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Archbishop Paul Tighe, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Msgr. Francesco Spinelli, Cardinal Peter Turkson, Msgr. John Kennedy, the Claretian Fathers, the cooperation of P. Amado Llorente Abanzas,OSA, Segretario Generale Patristic Institute Augustinianum, Sr. Veronica Donatello, the hospitality of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the staff at the Vatican Museum (“Dott.ssa Isabella Salandri Direzione Musei Vaticani, Ufficio Servizi e Rapporti con il Pubblico”) Cristina Cuccurullo at Kiasso- Turismo Internazionale per Sordi ONLUS, Walter Hansen, Sr. Agnes Badura, the McCaskey Family, the generosity of many people especially Edward and Beatriz Schweitzer. This is just some of the many people and organizations that contribute to DCYIA.

Our entire board (Pat Graybill, Ian Robertson, Maryann Barth, Laureen Lynch-Ryan, Joe Mulcrone, John Kennedy and Chelo Manero Soto) worked tirelessly and as a family with our DCYIA Team. We are a family and we thank them always.

Long before we got to Rome, DCYIA entrusted itself into the hands of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As usual, she took care of us as only she can!