Deaf News: Pope Francis to hold first official meeting with deaf audience

The Vatican have announced that Pope Francis will hold a gathering later this month to meet with an exclusively invited blind and deaf audience.

It is the first time a Pope has conducted such an audience. Although there have probably been deaf attendees at previous events, there has never been an official inclusion of the deaf and blind communities in this way.

One of the selected participants, Jakob Badde, said, “I am pleased that the Pope is making the whole world aware of our world by having an audience with us for the first time.”

Ther event will take place on 29th March, and will be held in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. Badde went on to say, “(Pope Francis) invited us for the audience in Rome in the centre of the Church and we are looking forward to it.”

Badde also mentioned that, although he and his peers live a full life, they also live with conflicting emotions of joy and sorrow, and that this meeting with the Pope may help them to communicate and develop their religious bonds.

“When I was little and went with my father to Fulda to see Pope John Paul II, he blessed me and kissed me on both ears,” he recalled.

“It would be nice if Pope Francis could change the lives of all of us who are deaf for the better.”

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-to-hold-first-official-audience-with-the-blind-deaf/#ixzz2vqQmXuSE

By Emily Howlett