The missiological character of deaf Catholic material culture

Abstract

Too often, deaf Catholics are assumed and expected to be “passive recipients of mercy” rather than active participants in mission. This is far from the role that deaf Catholics have played in the body of Christ. This introduction to deaf Catholic material culture serves to highlight one often overlooked source that demonstrates how deaf Catholics are active participants in the church’s mission—through the creation, curation, and dissemination of objects. First, the essay contextualizes deaf Catholic material culture within the sociocultural model of disability, without which the meaning and value that the objects hold cannot be fully appreciated. Then it explains how these objects create culturally-deaf spaces and the significance these spaces hold for the deaf community. Second, an analysis of various objects in public and personal spaces, which range from liturgical art and liturgical furnishings to everyday items such as pens and mugs in deaf Catholic communities is presented. Characteristics of deaf Catholic material culture and an explanation of how and what theologies of mission are operationalized through these objects in various spaces are discussed. The essay concludes with a typology of deaf Catholic material culture and the missiological opportunities they present. In so doing, the author argues that attention to material culture in deaf Catholicism counters the misconception that deaf Catholics are incapable of mission and challenges ableist theological ideas of deafness which portray deaf Catholic experiences as deficient, spiritually inferior, and dependent on hearing people.