Father Christopher Klusman stands at the back of St. Roman Catholic
Church on Milwaukee's south side and greets worshippers after the
Saturday night Mass.
This is no
ordinary receiving line.
The well-wishers are smiling, beaming even.
Some embrace him.
Others cry.
Few words are spoken.
But much is said.
Klusman is
deaf, as are many of those who'd gathered to take part in this Mass
celebrated by the newly ordained priest in American Sign Language.
It is
a first for many, to experience the sacrament in their own language,
signed by a priest they consider one of their own.
"It's so
important to have a priest who understands our language, our culture,"
said Karen Lausten of West Allis, one of about two dozen well-wishers
who attended a reception for Klusman after Mass.
"I feel like I've learned more about my faith from him than I have my whole life."
A Milwaukee
native, Klusman is among fewer than 10 profoundly deaf priests in
America, and he is the first to come through the Archdiocese of
Milwaukee's St. Francis de Sales Seminary.
He splits his
time between St. Roman's, where he is associate pastor, and a new
ministry he's developing to better serve the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
The 6 p.m.
Saturday Mass, in which an interpreter voices Klusman's signing for the
hearing in the pews, is a first step in that direction.
"I want to be
a bridge, to bring deaf people and hearing people together," said
Klusman, who moves easily between both worlds, in part because of his
strong oral language and lip-reading skills.
Most
important, Klusman said, he hopes to be a pastoral presence for a people
often marginalized in society and their faith communities. That brings
inherent challenges in Milwaukee, where many deaf Catholics still resent
the church for its failure to act against the late Father Lawrence
Murphy, a hearing priest adept at sign language who is believed to have
molested as many as 200 deaf boys during his career.
"I want to be
there for them - anything they need," said Klusman, who attended an
international conference at Marquette University this spring to better
understand the sex abuse crisis and minister to its victims.
Those who know him said he will be a healing presence in the archdiocese.
"He's got a
big burden on him. But I think he can show people that he is not like
Father Murphy," said Father Tom Coughlin, founder of the Dominican
Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate, a Texas-based religious order
devoted to deaf ministry.
"He's good. He's different. And he will help to restore the church in Milwaukee," Coughlin said.
Priest exudes joy
At 34,
Klusman exudes a kind of joyful boyishness.
He looks younger than he is,
and he greets everyone with a broad smile and a thumbs-up - and no hint
of pretense or exaggerated piety.
During his
first signed Mass at St. Roman, after noticing the chalice was missing,
Klusman drew a laugh when he looked out at a parishioner who was
videotaping and signed, "I guess this will be the blooper moment."
At a recent
religion class with three young sisters in preparation for their
baptisms and first communion, Klusman surprised the oldest with a
birthday cake.
And he laughed as the youngest quizzed him endlessly
about his monotonously black garb and whether he owned any footed
pajamas.
"I will say this for him," said their mother, Christine Greco, "he's very patient."
Born deaf,
Klusman grew up in Bay View and St. Francis, the youngest of Elaine and
Elmer Klusman's four children in a devoutly Catholic family.
He was
treated no differently at home.
But like many deaf children, Klusman was
often isolated and teased by neighborhood kids and classmates - an
experience he says made him stronger and more empathetic as an adult.
Called to ministry
He'd never
considered the priesthood until college, at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, when he began attending Bible study with a priest
involved in deaf ministry.
"He asked if I'd ever thought about it, and I said I didn't know it was something I could do," Klusman recalled.
"He said if God was calling me to the priesthood, then He'd make it happen."
Klusman
worked for a year for the state, assessing deaf and hard-of-hearing
students for services, before entering the seminary at St. Francis de
Sales.
"He was an
outstanding seminarian for us," said newly ordained Bishop Donald Hying,
who served as dean of formation, then rector at St. Francis during
Klusman's time there.
"The first thing that strikes you about him is his overwhelming joy, his openness to everyone and everything," he said.
The seminary
made minor accommodations: moving furniture in the chapel so speakers
could face Klusman and bringing in sign language interpreters - an
adjustment for his hearing peers who were not used to having outsiders
in what can be deeply personal formation sessions.
But it was a positive experience all around, Hying said.
"Certainly he
brings a deeper awareness in all of us of the deaf Catholics in the
archdiocese and the need to respond to them," he said.
Nationally,
there are estimated to be 3 million to 5 million deaf Catholics,
according to the Maryland-based National Catholic Office for the Deaf.
Klusman puts the number locally around 200.
Though some
churches offer sign language interpreters, that rarely extends beyond
weekly Mass, limiting deaf Catholics' access to outside religious study
and participation in parish life.
Klusman hopes
to change that by eventually offering Bible study, retreats and other
programs for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and by serving as a resource
for other parishes.
Already, their participation in the Saturday signed Mass signals a new era of inclusion.
At the first
Mass in August, deaf worshippers signed the readings and prayer
intentions, and others brought forward the bread and wine to be
consecrated.
They raised their hands in unison to sign the "Alleluia"
and "Our Father" - powerful moments for the deaf and hearing worshippers
alike.
"I want them to feel that they are equal in the church," said Klusman, who has come to see his deafness as a gift from God.
"They are equal members of the body of Christ. They have so many gifts, and we need to acknowledge them."