India gets its first speech-impaired priest

MUMBAI, India – A deaf and speech-impaired man was ordained a priest in India, and says he hopes to offer more support for deaf Catholics in the South Asian country.

Father Joseph Thermadom of the Holy Cross Congregation was ordained at Our Lady of Dolours Basilica in Thrissur, in the state of Kerala, by Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath on May 3.

According to Church sources, Thermadom is the first deaf person to be ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church in the country.