Welcome to my Captioning the Catholic Mass blog! 

                       
"Whoever hears my words and acts upon them is like a wise man who built his house on rock." Matthew 7:24 
(Source: http://buildingontheword.org)  

The purpose of this blog is to raise Captioning awareness, making the Mass accessible to all those with hearing loss by Captioning the Catholic Mass. "LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER".

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What is the Mass?:  http://catholicbridge.com/catholic/mass.php



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 I read that there are 48 million Americans with a hearing loss, and with an estimated 24 percent of the USA population being Catholic, that would make it about 12 million Catholics in the USA with a hearing loss!  I also read that 20 percent of Americans have a significant hearing loss!  Wow! Did you know that? Did you know there are that many people with Hearing Loss?!  We are talking about 1 in 5 Americans (1 in 3 after age 65) with a Hearing Loss!  Are they in your church? 

 20% of the US population aged 12 years and older has hearing difficulties severe enough to impact communication. (source; http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/85) which means they are not able to fully participate if the church is not hearing accessible.  

 I also saw that 90 percent of those with hearing loss and deafness do NOT know sign language.  Wow again!    Did you know that too? 

Only 4 to 10 percent of the deaf and hard of hearing population attends church (much lower than the average Catholic percentage who does not attend church) according to several sources.  There are some sources indicating it being as low as 2 percent.  Did you know that? That's a pretty large unchurched group of people -those with Hearing Loss and deafness.  I suspect most of the ones who are attending have some kind of access, or left in the dark, unable to participate fully in the life of the church.  

"ensure that the power of salvation may be shared by all" (John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, n. 16). "(Source:  http://www.ncpd.org/views-news-policy/policy/church/bishops/welcome-and-justice)

If there is no Captioning, Sign language and Audio Loops they can't participate and the drop out rates are 90 percent for folks with any form of hearing loss or deafness if they are not given opportunities to fully and actively participate in the life of the church, not to mention those who don't even bother joining a church in the first place if they know it is not accessible.  Captioning, Sign Language and Audio Loops provide wonderful support for the diverse population of those with hearing loss and deafness.  People with hearing loss and deafness are a large unchurched group on the whole.  

The answer to that is quite simple.  The church is not accessible for them.  If they can't hear or understand the Mass, they are lost, especially the Homily, Prayer of the Faithful, blessings and announcements. Some are also unable to follow along in the Missal or group prayers because they don't know where everyone is at in the Missal. They could be three paragraphs ahead or behind for example from where the congregation is during the Mass. 

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Hearing Health Foundation indicates the following; 1 in 5 Americans have a hearing loss.  1 in 3 Americans over age 65 have a hearing loss. Hearing loss is the number one injury among US soldiers returning home with 60 percent of veterans having some type of hearing loss.  The number of Americans with hearing loss will double by 2030 according to several sources.  Every year the number is climbing higher towards the projected estimated doubling by 2030.  Captioning, Sign Language and Audio Loops are three most common ways to provide equal communication access in business, educational and entertainment segments of the secular world.  Did you know that?  Did you know that Captioning benefits many deaf and hard of hearing folks because it is the interpretative verbatim text of their native English language for a good portion of the deaf and hard of hearing community?  

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What do the deaf and hard of hearing use for 

Communication Access?:

ASL (American Sign Language)  is used by the Culturally Deaf in the USA, CART (real time captioning) or its newer tech version called Remote CART is used by the late deaf, oral deaf and severe to profound hearing loss, ALD's (Assistive Listening Devices) are used by the hard of hearing (mild and moderate hearing loss).  Captioning (CART) can sometimes be used by the culturally Deaf but you need to ask them first.  The Hard of Hearing (mild and moderate) can also use captioning but they usually prefer Audio Loops.  Again, you need to ask them first. Yes, I know I keep saying this through out my blog. We are diverse you see.  We need to break the sound barriers for everyone so they can fully and actively participate and share the Joy of the Gospel to all. 

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Caption Catholic Tidbits:

"Political correctness has seeped into our collective consciousness like a disease and made us fearful of saying and doing what is necessary to defend our faith and stand up for what is right and true.  If we tolerate everything, it leads one to think that we likely stand for nothing.  “I don’t want to offend” often translates into “I am not willing to defend.”  As G.K. Chesterton once said, “Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” ( Source: http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2012/05/randy-hain-escape-from-apathy-ville/#sthash.j6RXN8iG.dpuf)

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The purpose of this blog is to raise  Diversity Awareness among those with hearing loss and deafness, and to raise  awareness that many  with hearing loss are being excluded from full participation at the Mass if the church does not have Captioning. Catholics with hearing loss deserve the fullness of their faith.   Does your Diocese/Archdiocese have at least one Mass service in Captioning at a church that one who benefits from it can reasonably travel to in order to fully and actively participate at the Mass? Contact your Diocese/Archdiocese - find it here:    http://www.usccb.org/about/bishops-and-dioceses/all-dioceses.cfm.)




























Is your church or Diocese/Archdiocese  inclusive to all those with hearing loss and deafness by providing Real time Captioning, Sign Language and Audio Loops?   If not - Diversity and Inclusion Awareness is needed in order to share the joy of the gospel by applying Universal Communication Access.  It is very important to share the Word of God with everyone.  Let's pray for that!























Prayer of Inclusion: http://www.ncpd.org/ministries-programs/spirituality/prayers

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