In Thrissur, in the Indian state of Kerala, Deacon Joseph Thermadom—deaf and with speech problems—was ordained a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross by Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath.
According to Indian sources, Thermadom is the first person with this type of disability to be ordained as a priest in the country’s Catholic Church.
There are only 26 similar ordinations worldwide, with just one precedent in Asia. The ordination rite took place on Thursday, May 2, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows. The new priest leads the liturgy by praying in sign language.
“In my vocation and mission,” says Fr. Thermadom to AsiaNews, “I feel called, first of all, to offer the sacraments in Indian Sign Language to all deaf Catholic people in India. I will also support God’s call to deaf people to the priesthood and religious life, reminding everyone of the Leviticus verse: ‘You shall not despise the deaf, nor cause a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God.’ The Bible has positive words on deaf people.”
In India, there are approximately 60 million people with speech and hearing problems.
Born deaf and with speech problems, Thermadom is now 38 years old. The son of Thomas and Rosy—together with his brother, who was also hard of hearing—he had studied in Mumbai, obtaining a degree before embracing religious life.
He studied theology at the Dominican Missionary Apostolate for the Deaf in the United States, then returned to India, where he connected with the Fathers of the Holy Cross through their ministry to the deaf.
After expressing his desire to join their ministry, he was welcomed into the Aymanam community in 2017.
He made his first profession in 2020 at the Novitiate of the Holy Cross in Yercaud, Tamil Nadu, and became the first deaf person to make his final profession in the congregation that August.
