New order, primarily of deaf men, will minister to deaf Catholics

Published: 2006-09-01

HONOLULU (CNS) -- Father Thomas Coughlin's lifelong dream to start a religious community where sign language is the primary means of expression at both the eucharistic table and the dinner table is finally becoming a reality. Deaf since birth, Father Coughlin has founded the new order, the Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate. The priest of the Diocese of Honolulu was one of five men who made their first profession of vows as Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate Aug. 27 at St. Albert's Priory in Oakland, Calif. "Necessity is the mother of invention," he told the Hawaii Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Honolulu Diocese, in an interview by e-mail. "I saw how badly we need a religious community of deaf priests and brothers dedicated to a deeper spiritual life and the deaf apostolate in the language of signs and the deaf culture milieu." The five men pronounced their vows before Oakland's Bishop Allen H. Vigneron, who formally recognized the new community in 2004. Father Coughlin will remain a diocesan priest until he make his final vows in a few years. The other four men are in various stages of preparation for the priesthood, and the religious community also has two novices.

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