The Rev. Joe Mulcrone leads a Mass for deaf Catholics at St. Francis Borgia parish in Chicago. Mulcrone helped create the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Ministry Formation Program, which certifies deaf Catholics in lay ministry. The program has reached its 30th anniversary. (Photo by Cynthia Flores-Mocarski/Chicago Catholic)

Having maternal grandparents who were deaf, the Rev. Joe Mulcrone learned some key words in American Sign Language early in life.

“I learned ‘ice cream,’ ‘candy’ and ‘food,’” Mulcrone said. “I was terrible at it.”

In 1977, when Mulcrone had already been a priest for six years, he started working with the deaf Catholic community.

“When I asked my mother about the idea, she said, ‘You’re a terrible signer,’” Mulcrone remembers. “On Thursday nights, I would sit in my parents’ living room with my mother going over signing the Gospel for the next Sunday. Working with the deaf community wasn’t on my agenda. My grandparents would laugh at the thought of me doing it.”

Thirty years ago, Mulcrone and Cardinal Joseph Bernardin talked about increasing lay ministry in the deaf community. That led to the creation of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Ministry Formation Program for deaf Catholics, the only program in the United States for deaf Catholics seeking certification in deaf lay ministry. The Ministry Formation Program marked its 30th anniversary Sept. 16 at the St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center’s weekly Mass for deaf Catholics.

Mulcrone noted the weekly Mass for deaf Catholics that he normally is the celebrant for is more than a church service for the participants.

“They come here and it is more than a Mass. The Mass is at 10:30 a.m. and I am opening the doors at 8 a.m.,” Mulcrone said. “I will walk out at 1:30 p.m. and they will still be there. They may not see another deaf person all week. The coffee pot is always on.”

“I will sign to them ‘Turn out the lights when you’re done,’” Mulcrone joked. “It is like a Jewish temple on a Friday night or a Black church on the South Side of Chicago. It is a time when they are the majority, not the minority.”

Individuals participate in the weekly Mass for deaf Catholics at St. Francis Borgia parish. (Photo by Cynthia Flores-Mocarski/Chicago Catholic)

Mulcrone said the weekly deaf Mass draws 150-160 people each week, with 75 percent of attendees being deaf. Attendees also include hearing parents, interpreter students and teachers in the deaf world, the longtime priest said.

He noted more than 10 churches in the archdiocese have services for deaf individuals.

The National Catholic Office for the Deaf estimates that there are 5.7 million deaf and hard-of-hearing Catholics in the United States.

By offering ministerial training for deaf Catholics to become lay leaders in their home dioceses,  hard-of-hearing individuals can more fully participate in the spiritual, sacramental and communal life of the church and feel accepted and included in their faith community, according to archdiocese officials.

Sponsored by the archdiocese, National Catholic Office for the Deaf and International Catholic Deaf Association-US, the Ministry Formation Program is a three-year effort providing training for deaf individuals in how to minister in the Catholic Church to deaf communities. MFP students come from dioceses all over the country. Recently, a program for deaf Catholics in Germany reached out to MFP for assistance to develop its own program.

Ian Robertson has been director of MFP for four years. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, he was in the seminary for a while and while there, one of his jobs was picking up deaf individuals for Mass and social events.

“I had never met a deaf person in my life. I was 22 or 23 and I figured I needed to learn sign language to communicate with them,” Robertson said. “When I did, something came alive in me, and I got very much involved in serving the deaf community.”

He shadowed Mulcrone for a week and the two became friends. When former MFP leader Sister Rita Ann Wigginton was called into a leadership position with her order, Mulcrone called Robertson about leading the program.

“I was like, ‘It’s the middle of COVID. No one is leaving the house. I don’t know. Let’s talk in three months,” Robertson remembers. “Almost to the day, three months later he called me.”

This time, Robertson said “yes.” During his tenure, more of the program has moved online so that it is more accessible to people nationally.

“The program really has a tremendous impact on the lives of deaf people,” Robertson said.

The 12 people currently in the program live in communities stretching from New York to Seattle.

“Our representation and diversity has expanded,” Robertson said.

He said even though most of the program work is done online, the group gathers once a year in person.

“A lot of deaf people don’t live in situations like Chicago. They are more rural,” Robertson said. “It is important for them to come together. That has been such an amazing success. It deepens the learning they have done online.”

He said it is impressive to see the changes in participants during their three years in the program.

“You see where they started and where they go to. You see their self-confidence grow,” Robertson said. “Services in Catholic ministries are decreasing at an alarming rate. This program at least provides an opportunity to try to continue services when an official ministry is closed or lessened.”

He said too often deaf Catholics only access the faith world through interpreters.

“When we are able to communicate in our own language, it only adds to the experience,” Robertson said. “We will continue to advocate for the deaf. It is not just something to hold onto. It is something that we think is right.

“The MFP program is the best way for deaf people to grow and develop. It is so important.”

Robertson said he admires Mulcrone’s sense of dedication to and presence in the deaf community.

“He is someone I regard as a living saint. He is not perfect, but he has an absolute commitment to the deaf,” Robertson said. “He doesn’t just want them to be served. He wants them to be the leaders. He gives his life to the groups. He does a lot for them. He has the ability to lift up and inspire.”

Robertson, a theology teacher at DePaul Prep, admits that he also cares deeply about the MFP program.

“This is my passion,” he said. “The thing that is going to make me work to midnight is MFP.”

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com