On March 24, the five Roman Catholic Dioceses in New Jersey joined forces to bridge the gaps separating the deaf and hearing Catholic communities at the second annual New Jersey Catholic DeaFest. Held at the Diocese of Metuchen’s St. John Neumann Conference Center, Piscataway, the “Our Community: Sharing Our Gifts” workshop attracted more than 200 participants eager to draw strength from their unity, celebrate their lives as Catholic believers and learn how to assume leadership roles in the deaf Catholic community.

The day-long workshop, co-sponsored by the offices of Deaf Ministries from the Archdiocese of Newark and the Dioceses of Camden, Metuchen, Paterson and Trenton featured a keynote address by Jean Cox, president of the International Catholic Deaf Association-United States.

The keynote was delivered in ASL (American Sign Language); simultaneous translations in spoken and projected written form enabled hearing, deaf, and deaf-blind attendees to benefit. The diverse audience greeted Cox both with traditional applause and ASL version: hands upraised and fluttered side to side.

Cox, a native of Cleveland, described her feelings of isolation while growing up as the only deaf person in a hearing family. Despite her siblings’ advocacy with friends during playtime and her parents’ decision to mainstream her into schools and religious education with hearing students, “I didn’t feel connected,” she admitted.

Cox learned ASL in college and discovered the Cleveland Catholic Deaf Church; there she attended Masses celebrated in sign and found mentors who encouraged her growth as a Catholic. Attendance at the Toledo convention for the ICDA “inspired me to do more and deepen my faith as a Catholic woman,” she remembered. “God had another plan for me for how to serve people. I went from sitting in the back of the church to being very involved in the community.”

“We have the responsibility to reach out to others in the deaf communities,” Cox urged audience members. “Share your gifts with one another to serve your communities, continue to develop your skills.”

The speaker called four volunteers to the stage to portray various components of an automobile. “They all have different duties, but all work together,” Cox concluded. “If you do not use your gifts, it affects the community. God gave us gifts to use on earth to build a community of faith, hope and love.”

Workshop organizers tailored information for both deaf and hearing attendees. Presentations were offered in ASL with interpreters softly voicing the words for those hearing enabled. A stenographer operating a CART (Communications Access Realtime Translation) machine enabled the typed transcript’s projection onto a screen. Exhibit tables bearing information on signed Masses, ASL instruction, TTY telephone systems,  deaf retreat weekends and a deaf senior citizen housing complex lined the hallways of the pastoral center. Crafts made by the deaf and their advocates were also available.

Both hearing and deaf attendees from around the state found value in the workshop’s presentations and exhibits. Janis Bell, coordinator of Deaf Ministry for the Diocese of Trenton, observed, “The deaf community loves to get together; it’s wonderful to make the Catholic Church a part of it.”

John Kalinowski, Trenton diocesan director of the Department of Pastoral Care, attended DeaFest for the first time, and described the experience as “incredible.”