Salford Diocese: St. Joseph's mission to Deaf People

Salford Diocese
St Joseph's Mission to Deaf People

Mission Statement:

St Joseph's Mission to Deaf People recognises the rights and needs of Deaf people. We believe and acknowledge that Deaf People are a cultural and linguistic (Sign Language users) minority group.
We are committed to providing for the spiritual and pastoral needs of Deaf People, particularly those who are profoundly deaf, including adults, and children and their families. We recognise the various "Faith communities" and they are welcome to share with us.

As part of our Mission we are called :

to be community with Deaf People;
to continue to build Faith communities by providing Eucharistic and sacramental celebrations relevant to their culture and language;
to support our Deaf pastoral groups within the dioceses;
to break down the wall isolating Deaf people from the life of the Church by increasing Deaf awareness within the hearing community and by our ministry to Deaf people;
to inform Parishes about our Services and create Deaf awareness in the Dioceses;
to enable both Deaf and hearing people to share their faith;
to empower Deaf people to minister to one another;
to give support and training to our Pastoral team and to our hearing co-workers;
to empower Deaf people through appropriate training so as to enhance their lives and the lives of other Deaf people.

Aims of the Pastoral Service to Deaf People

The service aims to meet the needs of Deaf people within the Diocese of Salford. People who experience isolation because of a lack of access to communication in Church and society. We aim to be in solidarity with the Deaf community to walk with them supporting their social, spiritual and emotional needs so as to enhance their self-worth/self-esteem and to enable them to develop and use their gifts and skills and be a sign of God's love to the Church.

Pastoral Services

weekly Mass in Sign language (hearing people are always welcome);

monthly Masses in sign language throughout Salford Diocese (Ashton, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley & Oldham);

weddings, baptisms and funerals etc;

pastoral Service (home visits, hospital visits, prison visits etc);

communication support for the Sacramental life as well as offering communication support to deaf adults/children within their local parishes;

general Pastoral work (ie visiting, counselling, support etc);

courses for Deaf people, ie. Ministers of Eucharist & Reader/Signers (as announced);

Catechetics (for Adults);

Catechetics for Deaf children - this also includes visit to Schools and Units for Deaf children;

monthly Catechesis//Liturgy/Faith Journey Group;

monthly Prayer Group;

liaising and networking with families and other agencies;

network of Volunteers;

We enjoy good relationships with the Anglican Chaplains and the Deaf Anglican community in the Manchester diocese and hold Ecumenical services.

Counselling Services
We have a Deaf Counsellor who comes in each week and offers counselling session to Deaf people.

Catholic Deaf Association
Many of our members are members of the Catholic Deaf Association. It is a national organisation and Hollywood House has generally been regarded as the Headquarters.

The Pastoral Team
The Second Vatican Council reminded us that the laity are called by virtue of baptism to 'full and active participation' in Church worship, and as a consequence, in Church and society. However, there is still some way to go before the Church can claim to be fully responsive to all Deaf people.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 has created a challenging environment for the Church which goes beyond the simple issues such as ramped access and looped building. There are central issues of inclusiveness and appropriate provision for a community that assert their right as a linguistic minority.

The Pastoral Team seeks to promote and foster the vision of Christian community which is rooted in the life and message of Jesus Christ, and seeks to ensure the Deaf community is enabled to use their talents and gifts to nurture the Christian way of life.

Contact details:

Please click here for contact details.

Further information:

Contact Fr. Peter McDonough.