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July
2, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 13Oakland,
CA
Newly ordained
deaf priest offers thanks
at St. Joseph’s Center
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| Ardith Lynch, executive director of St. Joseph’s Center for the Deaf, leads the congregation in song during Father Paul Zirimenya’s first Mass. |
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| Father Paul Zirimenya celebrates his first Mass after ordination for members of St. Joseph’s Center for the Deaf at Holy Family Ethnic Mission in Union City. |
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Father Paul Zirimenya delivers his homily in American Sign Language during his Mass of Thanksgiving for members of St. Joseph’s Center for the Deaf. DIANA JOHNSON PHOTOS |
When Paul
Zirimenya was ordained a priest on June 9 by San Francisco Archbishop
George H. Niederauer, he became the first black and deaf priest to be
ordained for the United States. According to the National Catholic Office
for the Deaf, he is now one of eight culturally deaf priests in the U.S.
“I am proud of my deafness and never in my life have I ever wished
to be hearing,” wrote Zirimenya in a recent e-mail. “Mainstream
culture says, ‘You need to be fixed via medical means to be like
us.’ We, the deaf, say, ‘We are okay and proud of our deafness.’”
Father Zirimenya celebrated his first Mass June 10 at St. Joseph’s
Center for the Deaf in Union City where he had done his field work as
a seminarian. He also volunteered there as a deacon, performing baptisms,
leading communion services and visiting the sick. His first assignment
as a priest is as chaplain for the deaf community of the San Francisco
Archdiocese. He will reside at St. Gabriel Parish in San Francisco.
Born in Kampala, Uganda, the third of nine children, Zirimenya became
deaf in an accident when he was six.
His parents and siblings are Anglicans while others of his extended family
are Catholic. He said his parents’ blessing regarding his decision
to become a Catholic priest was unconditional from the very beginning,
and their encouragement has helped him complete his studies. His mother
and sister, whom he had not seen in seven years, attended his ordination.
His journey to priesthood started after he graduated from Makrere College
in 1999 with a degree in social work and social administration. He took
a job as a teacher for deaf adults at the Uganda National Association
of the Deaf in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.
While doing work to increase awareness of the needs of the deaf community,
Zirimenya met Father Reiles Aloyse of the Missionaries of Africa. Zirimenya
believes Father Aloyse felt a kinship with him because in his old age
the priest had become hard of hearing. He encouraged Zirimenya to pursue
a vocation.
“I had a lot of satisfaction and witnessed a lot of changes among
deaf adults,” wrote Zirimenya of his time there. “There was
this spiritual yearning on my part and their part and that is when I thought
about priesthood.”
Before moving to the United States, he took philosophy classes at St.
Mbaaga s Seminary in Ggaba, a suburb of Kampala, to prepare for theological
studies. It was at this time that Zirimenya was formally accepted into
the Catholic Church.
“Originally I felt my call was to become missionary priest, but
eventually I was accepted to study for diocesan priesthood for the Archdiocese
of San Francisco,” recalled Father Zirimenya.
He enrolled at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park with two other deaf
seminarians, Shawn Carey of the Archdiocese of Boston and Ghislain Bazikila
of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The three men came at the invitation
of then Archbishop of San Francisco, now Cardinal, William Levada, who
realized the American Church needed priests to minister to deaf Catholics.
Because they were at different academic levels, the three deaf seminarians
rarely took classes together. This year, though, Zirimenya shared classes
with both Carey and Bazikila. The three also met during meals, when hearing
seminarians often bring white boards to better communicate with them.
“Sometimes the white boards or pads of paper are the only way to
communicate, but some hearing seminarians have picked up sign language,”
said Father Zirimenya who can also read lips, although it can be difficult
depending on the person with whom he is trying to communicate.
“If you have a mustache, it’s worse, even if I am proud to
have one,” he jokes.
In his pursuit of ordination, Father Zirimenya said he never encountered
discrimination based on his disability. In fact, he found the opposite.
His deafness draws people to him.
“There is some kind of awe if you are introduced as a deaf seminarian,”
wrote Zirimenya. “People are curious to know more about you.”
His seminary years were not without struggles.
“I think it is one thing to accept a deaf seminarian and another
to obtain the necessary logistics for of formation,” Zirimenya wrote.
“It requires a lot of flexibility, determination and patience on
part of the archdiocese, the seminary faculty and the deaf seminarian
himself.
Preparations included provision of an interpreter, who can at times work
long hours. Prayer times and Masses, along with many classes, are interpreted.
Some classes are captioned.
“Adjustment to an American education system was also hard work.
Honestly, I have kind of struggled academically, but God has helped me
to maintain a reasonable GPA,” he wrote. “Over time I have
learned what the professors wanted with my papers and I used the help
of my classmates and the coordinator of deaf services whenever the going
got tough.”
Zirimenya recalled the trouble he had carving out time to pray with a
hectic academic and formation schedule. Prayer, however, was key to his
remaining on the path to ordination.
One problem Zirimenya never encountered was racism. He said the level
of cooperation between members of various ethnic backgrounds was enough
to reduce him to tears.
“This is the most diverse seminary I have ever attended and the
best field education I have ever received,” wrote Zirimenya, who
has earned a Master of Divinity degree at St. Patrick’s.
He spent his pastoral year at Holy Family Parish in Concord, Mass., where
he often assisted at Masses.
“That experience helped me become a better verbal reader and gave
me practical experiences of working with hearing people and being a bridge
between the hearing and deaf community,” he said. He also worked
in the Office for the Apostolate for the Deaf in Boston and at Sacred
Heart Parish for the deaf in Newton Center, Mass.
He is fluent in English and his native Lugandan as well as American and
Ugandan Sign Language.
He has words of encouragement for any deaf man pondering the priesthood.
“To any deaf person or person with any disability who would like
to pursue a call to serve God as a priest, I say, God loves you and welcomes
you to participate fully in his salvation plan. Listen to him and follow
your heart, and leave the rest to God.”
(Additional photos from his ordination and first Mass can be seen at www.sjcd.org).
