Deaf Korean priest finds warm welcome in US

Father Park Min-seo, right, signs an online Mass for the Archdiocese of Washington held on Feb. 7. Screen capture from ADW Special Needs Ministry

By Park Ji-won

Father Park Min-seo signs before having an interview about the establishment of an Ephatha Church in Seoul, in this Aug. 25, 2019, file photo. Korea Times file

Masses in American Sign Language (ASL) by Father Park Min-seo, a deaf Catholic priest from Korea who was dispatched to the United States in January to serve as a chaplain, have received warm welcomes from congregations, according to local media and the Archdiocese of Seoul.

The newly appointed chaplain at St. Francis of Assisi, chaplain to the Catholic community at Gallaudet University and provider of a pastoral ministry to the Archdiocese of Washington's deaf believers, led his first sign-language mass there on Feb. 6. Local media said the number of viewers of the mass greatly soared to 800 after Park's debut, compared to the previous average of around 95 viewers.

Since the coronavirus pandemic slashed the number of masses for deaf Catholics, Park's sign-language Masses have played an important role in uniting deaf believers, local reports said.

A Catholic reporter wrote that watching a deaf priest sign the Mass in ASL brought the dispersed deaf community together online. It continued that the year-long COVID-19 pandemic has kept many deaf individuals away from others who communicate in sign language, contributing to marginalization.

Laureen Lynch-Ryan, the archdiocese's coordinator for deaf ministry, was quoted as saying that Park's sermon inspired many and they are keenly anticipating his services. “Many stated how very clear he was, and that it was a great picture of what the Gospel means and how it applies to the deaf community," she said. "They are all greatly looking forward to his next mass.”

Park is fluent in both Korean Sign Language (KSL) and ASL. He graduated from Gallaudet in 1999 to become a priest and learned ASL and English while studying there. He also studied theology at St. John's Seminary in New York, graduating in 2004.

He became a priest in Seoul in July 2007 after studying at the Catholic University in Seoul. While serving as a priest in the Archdiocese of Seoul, he is known for contributing to running the ministry of the Archdiocese of Seoul for deaf Catholics over the last 14 years. He also contributed to raising funds for building an Ephatha Church for deaf Catholics which was opened on Aug. 25, 2019.