In Memoriam
Deacon Ralph Hinch
January 5, 1926 – March 23, 2020
Catholic Office of the Deaf of the Archdiocese of Chicago
It is with our sadness that we have lost such a wonderful and outgoing man whom we have enjoyed knowing and whose smiling presence has always been at many NCOD Pastoral Week Conferences. His presence, especially the times he served our Masses as a Deaf Deacon all these years, will be greatly missed. We will never forget how he always kept going no matter his age! He certainly kept going and going! There is no doubt that he is rushing all the way to Heaven with his great smile! May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Message from Fr. Joe Mulcrone, Director Emeritus of St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center, Chicago IL:
With sadness, but trusting in the promise of “New Life in Jesus Christ”, we announce the death of DEACON RALPH HINCH. Ralph died Monday afternoon, 3/23, at home surrounded by his family. He did NOT die because of the Coronavirus. Because of the rules for the State of Illinois and the Archdiocese of Chicago, we will NOT have a funeral Mass at this time.
FUNERAL SERVICE: Saturday, March 28th, 10am CST. There will be a funeral service for Deacon Ralph for family only. We will LIVE STREAM the service from the funeral home (click on the link below):
Ralph Hinch’s Funeral Service YouTube Link
CEMETERY: QUEEN OF HEAVEN
MEMORIAL MASS: later this year, JUNE?, we will celebrate a memorial Mass with the family and community at St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center.
Online obituary (click on the following link): Ralph Hinch’s Obituary Link
In Memoriam
Father Anthony Russo, C.Ss.R
November 1, 1933 – March, 31, 2020
Deaf Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Father Anthony Russo died during the night in the early am on March 31, 2020 while in hospice care at Stella Maris, Timonium, Maryland. All who knew and loved Fr. Russo mourn his passing and also rejoice in his heavenly homecoming. He served and loved us with all his heart, just as he served his Lord, Jesus and loved God with all his heart.
Funeral Arrangements: Due to the Corona Virus, arrangements for the Funeral Mass will not be announced until after the quarantine. The Mass, Visitation and burial will be in Philadelphia.
Condolences, Mass cards or Memorial Donations can be sent to: the Deaf Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia or the Redemptorist Community.
Deaf Apostolate
Rev. Anthony Russo Fund
222 N. 17th Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19103
(Click for online Memorial Donation to the Deaf Apostolate)
C.Ss.R Holy Redeemer Provincial Residence
c/o Fr. Henry Sattler, C. Ss. R
3112 7th St. NE
Washington, DC 20017-14911
Fr. Anthony Russo, C.Ss.R. – Died March 31, 2020. He was born in Passaic, NJ on November 1, 1933; The son of Fausto Russo and Yolanda Russo (De Capite) both deceased. He had one sister, Janet who is also deceased. He was baptized at Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church on December 10, 1933. He attended Clifton Public School #8, Clifton High School, Virginia Military Institute where he received a degree in Civil Engineering. He attended St. Mary’s, North East for Philosophy, 58-59. His profession was at Ilchester on August 2, 1960. He attended Mt. St. Alphonsus, Esopus, NY 1960-1966. His ordination was on June 20, 1965. After Second Novitiate at Annapolis he was assigned to St. Boniface, Philadelphia until it closed When St. Boniface closed, he moved to Visitation Parish and continued his work with the Deaf Community. He ministered as the Coordinator of the Deaf Apostolate, Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1967– 2012 when he retired. At that time he continued to serve as a senior priest, saying Mass in ASL and giving spiritual direction.
Fr. Anthoy Russo wrote three books: Made by Hand, A catechesis for the Deaf, Topic: Creation, The God of the Deaf Adolescent: An inside view; and In Silent Prayer A History of Ministry with the Deaf Community in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
May he rest in the peace of the Savior.
Coronavirus And The Church
From the Board of Directors at the National Catholic Office for the Deaf, we want to let you all know that we are praying for all of you, our brothers and sisters, around the world facing the coronavirus impact. As we have seen so many places having imposed restrictions and several lockdowns aiming to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Masses in many dioceses being suspended until further notice is one of those restrictions. In light of that, we have noticed a rise in the use of technology to broadcast the Sunday liturgy, in which several of our Deaf and hearing priests now offer live-streaming of the ASL Masses for our Deaf brothers and sisters who can watch from home. Here is the list of ASL Masses being live-streamed on Sundays until further notice:
Saturdays:
1. Fr. Matthew Hysell OP – Ministerial Priest for the Archdiocese of Edmonton and Doctoral Candidate for Sacred Theology at Dominican University College in Ottawa, Canada – ASL Vigil Mass 7:30pm EST on FaceBook Live: facebook.com/icdacanadiansection
2. Fr. Seán Loomis – Chaplain and Coordinator for the Philadelphia Deaf Apostolate, Archdiocese of Philadelphia – Sunday ASL Mass will be posted after 6pm at: facebook.com/DeafCatholicPhilly
Sundays:
1. Fr. Shawn Carey – Director of the Boston Deaf Apostolate, Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts – Sunday ASL Mass 9:15am EST on YouTube Live: youtube.com/user/DeafApostolateBoston After live-streaming, the video will be available at bostondeafcatholic.org which can be viewed at your convenience.
2. Monsignor Glenn Nelson J.C.L. – Director of Rockford Deaf Apostolate and Vicar General, Diocese of Rockford, Illinois – Sunday ASL Mass 10:00am CST on FaceBook Live: facebook.com/RockfordDeafApostolate
3. Fr. Mike Depcik – Director of Detroit Catholic Deaf Community, St John’s Deaf Center, Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan – Sunday ASL Mass 11:30am EST on FaceBook Live: facebook.com/deafmass
4. Fr. Tom Schweitzer and Deacon Tomas Garcia – Holy Angels Catholic Church of the Deaf, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California 8:30am PST (ASL and spoken English) & 11:30am EST (ASL and Spanish/Español) youtube.com/user/hacofthedeaf/live
5. Interpreted Virtual Mass – Fr. Dave Korth with an ASL interpreter – Sacred Heart Church, Diocese of Omaha, Nebraska, Mass can be viewed at either the church’s website: sacredheartchurchomaha.org or their YouTube Channel:YouTube.com/SacredHeartChurchOmaha
If you know of your diocesan Deaf Ministry or others doing any videotaping or live-streaming of the Masses, please email the info to Fr. Shawn Carey at NCODPresident@gmail.com. We will be happy to add the info on this list.
Pope Francis’ Prayer to Mary for Her Powerful Intercession to be freed by the evil of the virus:
O Mary, you always shine on our path as a sign of salvation and of hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm. You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need, and we are sure you will provide so that, as in Cana of Galilee, we may return to joy and to feasting after this time of trial. Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform to the will of the Father and to do as we are told by Jesus, who has taken upon himself our sufferings and carried our sorrows to lead us, through the cross, to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.
My First Eucharist is a comprehensive home preparation process for families. This six lesson program provides the necessary formation prior to the reception of the Sacrament of First Eucharist. The program provides lesson plans, activities, video library that contains lesson videos and glossary of terms in ASL.