Ministry to the deaf in New York:

Father Bruce is one of seven deaf priests ministering in the United States, said the Rev. Thomas Coughlin, head of the Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate in Hayward, Calif. Four deaf seminarians are studying to be priests, the most ever at one time, according to the National Catholic Office for the Deaf.

The four seminarians, along with an increase in lay participation, show signs of growth in a small Catholic community that has long struggled with its identity.

Only about 4 percent of deaf Catholic adults nationwide attend Mass, said Arvilla Rank, executive director of the Office for the Deaf. That is largely because the experience of attending a spoken Mass falls flat, and for some a signed Mass does not adequately convey inflections and nuances of a speaking priest’s homily. A speaking priest, deaf people say, cannot bridge the gap beyond language and into deaf culture.