THE ANCHOR ~'Diocese of'Fall River - ' Fri"Aug. 12, 1994
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Interested in accessing WASHINGTON (CNS) - Access to the developing "information superhighway" must be available for all groups and communities, said the head of the U.S. bishops' Communications Committee. "I urge you to adopt strong antiredlining protections to prevent the bypassing of minority, lowincome and rural communities in the deployment of the advanced . telecommunications networks of
Joseph, Mo., in a letter to members of the Senate Commerce Committee. Equally as important, Bishop Boland said, is a "public right of way" to allow access for a variety of groups on the information superhighway, a global system that would connect everyone electronically to all of kinds of information via computers and phone lines.
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DEAF PARISHIONERS at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento recite a prayer using sign language. (CNS photo)
Signed Masses benefit all parishioners ST. PAUL, Minn. (eNS) - As the "translation" of Sunday Masses into American Sign Language becomes a more common occurrcncc in the U.S. parishcs, the Intc'rnational Catholic Deaf Association held its annual conference in St. Paul, drawing somc 175 participants. "The theme of the conference was 'Called to Serve,' and the hope is that, as they go back to their parishes, they'll become more active." said Father William Ken-' ney, director of the Office of the Deaf in the archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, of the July meeting at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. Timothy Owens, executive director of the DeafCommunity Center Inc. in Louisville. Kv., told the conference that deaf Catholics are an essential piece of the church puzzle. He used a five-part model for church structure ~ installation, community. servant, sacrament and herald - to demonstrate what deaf Catholics have to offer the church. "These are five things that make the church more exciting," Owens said. "Any organization must have all five in order to be successful." "Different parts of the church fix different problems as they come up," he said. Catholic parishes around the country were finding that having a signed Mass broughll benefits to the hearing as well as the deaf. "At the time we started I was only aware of two people in our parish who would need the sign language," said Father Dan J uelfs. pastor of St. Theresa's Church in Rapid City, S.D .. where parishioner Lynn Bakken has been signing Masses since the beginning of Advent last year. "After we started I found out there were more." "If you go [to MassI and you cannot hear anything, all you do is watch," Ms. Bakken told the West River Catholic. Rapid City's diocesan newspaper. "Mass is still pretty profound, but it isn't the same until somebody puts it in your own language." Three front pews on the pulpit side of the church are reserved for the hearing impaired and deaf.
After six months, five families have become regulars. Ms. Bakken has found one of the greatest benefits has been to' her own spiritual life. "I would like to say something nice, like how I think I am doing a service for the deaf, and I know I am; but the' benefits for myself and my understanding of the Eucharist have overshadowed any thought of service," she said. "There are moments I get choked up because I have been so touched with a new understanding about something I never khew while I was sitting in the pews," Ms. . Bakken added. In Sacramento, Calif., Father Vincent Brady said the entire parish has benefited from the addition of a weekly signed Mass at Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The cathedral is home to the 20-member Deaf Community. wl)ich takes an active role in the litu~gies. "The Deaf Community has brought our liturgies to another level of awareness for communicating the Gospel," he said in an interview with The Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Sacramento diocese. Last Easter Sunday. Father Brady recalled, the DeafCommunity taught the whole congregation how to sign the "alleh,lia" response. Peggy Walrath, director of the Office for Deaf Ministry and one of the regular American Sign Language interpreters at the liturgy each week, has seen the Deaf Community grow since coming to the Cathedral pariSh two years ago. "The parish has given us a lot of support and continues to go out of their way to make u~ feel welcome here each week," said Ms. Walrath. In Sioux City, Iowa. Connie Barrett - who signs Mass the first Sunday of each month at Nativity Parish - sees benefits to the hearing population, especially children. "It's done more for hearing children to be introduced to something," said Ms. Barrett, a member of the diocesan Coalition for M inistry with Persons Having Disabilities. "They're exposed to something they're not used to seeing. I've noticed a lot of parents with small children bring them to the front of the church."
Programs offered by Catholic churches for deaf people are valuable, but they "only touch the tip of the iceberg," said Ms. Barrett, who has two deaf sons and a daughter who is not deaf. "The biggest problem is that the Catholic faith is not geared to deaf individuals, so they take advantage of so little of it," she told The Globe. diocesan newspaper. Offering signed Masses or programs that welcome people who are deaf sends a message that "we are a caring community," said Ms. Barrett, a member of Immaculate Conception Church in Sioux City. "It's an invitation to everyone," she added. "We can say 99 times, 'We invite,' but nothing proves that more than doing something for them."
Separation law OK'd DUBLIN, ireland (CNS) -Ireland's High Court has upheld the Judicial Separation Act, which allows married couples to formalize a break-up and is seen as the first step toward a referendum on whether to legalize divorce in the country. The court's ruling sparked immediate comment on whether the government was moving quickly enough to schedule the referendum, a major issue in the 1992 election that brought Prime Minister Albert Reynolds to power. The 1989 act was challenged by a man, separated from his wife, who questioned the provisions for dividing property.
Register, or else HONG KONG (CNS) - China has inaugurated what observers say is a new attempt to control religion by requiring all religious groups, including those previously barred from the official rolls. to register with the government. The "carrot" of the new policy is allowing groups previously banned to register as legal religious organizations without first having to join one of the state-approved patriotic religious associations. The "stick" is the requirement to register. which gives Chinese authorities the tools to restrict and control the burgeoning number of unofficial religious groups in the country.
the future," said Bishop Raymond
J. Boland of Kansas City-51.
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