Deaf Roman Catholic Priest to Lecture at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Rev. Thomas Coughlin, a deaf Roman Catholic priest, will give a lecture on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 10:30 a.m. in Room 320 of the Hogan Campus Center at Holy Cross.  He will celebrate a liturgy at 2 p.m. in the Mary Chapel at Holy Cross.  The events, including lunch, are free and open to the public.

In his lecture, entitled "How Can a Deaf Catholic be a Good Catholic in the Catholic Church," Fr. Coughlin will discuss how a deaf person can contribute his/her talents and beliefs as a deaf person to the life and function of the Catholic Church.   He will focus on issues concerning sign language, deaf culture, deaf needs and other topics that affect the spiritual life of deaf people in the Catholic Church.

Ordained as a Catholic priest in 1977, he spent several years working as a home missionary for the International Catholic Deaf Association, preaching and conducting retreats both in the United States and in other countries.  In 1981, he and Sr. Maureen Langton, C.S.J., purchased a bankrupt resort hotel in Old Forge, N.Y., and converted the waterfront property into "Camp Mark Seven," a deaf youth camp which is now in its 19th year of operation.

Fr. Coughlin obtained license in registered nursing from the state of New York in 1996 and is currently working as a relief RN at the New York School for the Deaf in White Plains.  He is also a coordinator for a seminary training program at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., for deaf men who want to become Roman Catholic priests.

Fr. Coughlin, who was born to deaf parents, attended the Rochester School for the Deaf and St. Mary's School for the Deaf, Buffalo; he earned his bachelor's degree in English from Gallaudet University and his master's degree in religious studies from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.