The Catholic Deaf Community  of the Syracuse Diocese

WHO WE SERVE
The Catholic Deaf ministry of the Syracuse Diocese is a ministry striving to serve about 400 households with deaf members in the 7 county area of our Roman Catholic Diocese.

ADVOCACY
The Catholic Deaf Community, like any church, is called to speak out for justice. We support the efforts of other Deaf people to work for equal rights, to educate hospitals and other agencies to provide interpreters, and to raise the "Deaf  awareness" of hearing people within the Church, so that Deaf people will feel more welcome, wanted, and needed in our faith communities.

CONTACTS
Our office is temporarily located in Rome, NY, at St. Mary's Church, 210 West Liberty St.

Our mailing address is

The Syracuse Catholic Deaf Community
P.O Box 572
Rome NY 13442-0572

By phone, you can reach us at (315) 404-5674 voice only (or relay). The Director, Mary Margaret Van Damme, can be reached at 315-339-2143 v/tty. If you have comments or suggestions about these Web pages contact the Webmaster, Jim Van Damme. Please do not e-mail us jokes, virus alerts, urban legends, or inspirational forwards; we get enough already. 

MINISTRY TEAM
The Catholic Deaf Community is directed by Mary Margaret Van Damme. 

A team of 7 trained lay leaders, both Deaf and hearing, assists in our ministry. Mary Margaret Van Damme and Jeanette Romanowski serve in the Eastern Region of our Diocese. Anne Parish is our lay minister for Oswego County.

In Syracuse, Mary DeMatteo-Vitale, Marion Baratta and Barb Hudson assist our Deaf community at St. Lucy's. In the Southern Region of the diocese, Jane Long has helped the Deaf church at our Johnson City location for many years.

Other volunteers assist us in many ways with our social activities, religious education, fundraising, and outreach. We are always looking for interpreters, lay ministers, and temporary help for our many activities. If you are interested, write to Mary Margaret at  the e-mail address above.

Left to right: Mary Margaret Van Damme, Mary DeMatteo-Vitale, Barbara Hudson, and Jeanette Romanowski at our lay ministers' commissioning in September 1998.  

Click here to see more pictures of our ministers' commissioning.
 

MASS TIMES
Interpreted Catholic worship is available in the Eastern, Southern and Northern regions of the Syracuse Diocese. Check the newsletter schedule, call the Church or e-mail our office for updates. We occasionally adjust the schedule and location of interpreted Masses to accommodate people better. If you have suggestions, please contact us.

Interpreted masses are available at:

Syracuse:
St. Lucy's Church, Syracuse, Gifford Street, 2 blocks from West St
Interpreted Mass at 9:00 AM

Johnson City:
St. James Church, Main Street
Interpreted Mass Sunday 10 AM

Utica Area:
St. Paul's, Main Street in Whitesboro
Interpreted Mass 11 AM

Rome:
St. Peter's Church, North James Street near Fort Stanwix, 5:15 PM Saturday evening if requested

Fulton:
Holy Trinity (call for times & dates)

WKTV   Utica Channel 2.1      6:00 AM Sunday
WBNG   Binghamton  Channel 12.1        6:00 AM Sunday
WSYR   Syracuse  Channel 9 (analog) and 9.1 (digital)  6:30 AM  Sunday

INFORMATION and RESOURCES
We provide information and advice to many parishes throughout the diocese of Syracuse, as they strive to serve the needs of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in their congregations. We publish a newsletter, THE SIGN OF CHRIST, which contains lessons about our Catholic Christian faith, a calendar of Mass times and locations, important events, and news from throughout our region. The on-line edition contains color photos, links, breaking news and other goodies not available in the print edition.  Write or call if you want the printed version mailed to you. Email us if you'd like to be notified when the on-line version is available.