EUROPE OF PRAGUE

EVROPSKÉ SETKÁNÍ NESLYŠÍCÍCH KATOLÍKŮ 12.5.2017 

THE EUROPEAN MEETING OF THE WAITING CATHOLICS 12.5.2017.

II. European meeting of deaf Catholics 12. 

15. 5. 2017 the second meeting took place in Prague in the Czech Republic.2
The 1st meeting took place in Rome, Italy, and after two years in Prague.
Representatives of the Catholic Church from 12 countries participated: from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland,
Ukraine, Malta, Ireland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

12. 5. 2017 on Friday at 16h the representatives of the Church were invited to Cardinal Duke, where the deaf
thanked for receiving and establishing a parish for the deaf in January 2017.
The 18th was followed by the holy Mass in the temple of St. John the Baptist. Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert for all the deaf and the hearing. The Holy Mass was interpreted in the Czechoslovak Union and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The most beautiful moment was when the representative of each state brought the flag of his state and the candle under the altar.

On May 13, 2017, only representatives of the Church met in the Franciscan monastery.
During the morning, the representatives of each country presented answers to questions we had prepared for them in advance (eg who is responsible, who translates the Mass, who translates the Bible, whether they use the services of an interpreter and how to solve other problems in the Church).

After a lunch break, we continued our work: we had 3 group workshops.
The first workshop was attended by priests and deacons, the second workshop was dedicated to pastoral assistants, and the third workshop to technical staff representatives.
For each workshop, questions have also been prepared that we need to address in the church (eg, how better
to work with hearing and interpreters, how to translate reading to holy Mass, how should
look for a deaf website, etc.).
The workshop was followed by a country in which the next European meeting will take place in two years
Our priest Stanislaw Góra for the Czech Republic first prayed to the Holy Spirit, and then drew out the lot on which Poland was written, So III. a European meeting of deaf Catholics will be in Poland in 2019.

14.5. 2017 on Sunday morning was a free program. First, we had a boat trip to Prague Venice and then we visited the exhibition on St. Anežce české.
At 14h the Holy Mass was served only to the deaf at the Church of the Virgin Mary in the Franciscan Monastery. Holy Mass was served by deaf priest Juan Jose of Spain, in the international signage system. It was very beautiful and the sermon for us was encouraging for all
After the Holy Mass we went to the refectory (hall) of the Franciscan monastery where all deaf people from the Czech Republic and other countries were invited.
Two deaf moderators introduced all national representatives to other deaf people.
At the end of the meeting, we were all afraid, some had to go home and the rest of the guests left for the next morning on Monday.
The whole program was very encouraging, we got new contacts, met people with their experience of faith. All the representatives thanked us very much for organizing the meeting. They said that they felt filled with the Holy Spirit and gained the power to live fully for Jesus and continue to carry their faith further.