Bishop Chau Highlights Hospitable Preaching and the Deaf Community

On National American Sign Language (ASL) Day, April 15, 2026, Bishop Pedro Bismarck Chau, D.D., auxiliary bishop of Newark, New Jersey, and the chaplain for Deaf Ministry of the Archdiocese of Newark, gave a compelling presentation on preaching and the deaf community. His talk was part of the Many Faces of Hospitality series sponsored by the Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program of Seton Hall's Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology.

The program, titled "Love has a Language: St. Francis de Sales, Hospitable Preaching and Deaf Belonging," also featured Father Dominic Ciriaco, D.Min., director of the Seminary’s Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program who focused on Salesian spirituality. Forty-one people attended, including priests, diaconal candidates, and members of the Seton Hall and ICSST communities.

As the only priest in the Archdiocese with ASL experience, Bishop Chau spoke passionately about the need to reach out to the deaf community who “really needs to hear the Word of God.” According to Bishop Chau, there are only seven deaf priests in the United States. Bishop Chau’s commitment to the deaf community stems from his personal understanding of the difficult struggles of his sister who was born deaf and often felt the pain of isolation. Wanting to communicate fully with his beloved sister and “to include her in everything,” Bishop Chau learned ASL, a gift that he now also shares with the Church.

During his presentation on deaf belonging, Bishop Chau emphasized how important it is to know and understand the needs of his congregation. He always takes steps to ensure that his congregation has an unobstructed view of his signing, including standing in certain spots, ensuring the lighting is just right, and beginning his sermons by signing, “Can you see me? I’m fine? Okay, good, then I’ll start.” Bishop Chau also uses exaggerated expressions to emphasize his preaching, especially during prayers. He gave an example of signing the Our Father first in a stoic, neutral manner, then with zealous, enthusiastic facial expressions and arm movements to emphasize the prayer's importance and power.

Bishop Chau also asks questions to keep his audience involved, as if in a conversation; he welcomes their inputs and encourages them by happily responding, “Yes! Yes! What else?” By engaging his congregation, Bishop Chau hopes they will take these meaningful interactions to heart. “I really involve them because I bet you they’re not going to forget ... make them part of the homily as well,” he stated. “Engaging them brings that openness, and they want to come back and learn more.”

Father Ciriaco, our second speaker for the evening, noted that similar to John the Baptist who led others to the joy of Christ, so, too, does Bishop Chau lead the deaf community to such joy. Father noted that “joy is not a fleeting emotion, but it is a choice based on faith and the certainty of God’s love, allowing us to find joy even in the midst of struggle.” For St. Francis de Sales, preaching must be welcoming and natural, and the preacher must speak with devotion and confidence.

In his book, On the Preacher and Preaching, St. Francis asked, “What is the intention of the preacher? Following the command of our Lord, when our Lord said, ‘I have come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly.’ The preacher must bring light to the intellect and warmth to the will.” Father Ciriaco pointed to St. Francis de Sales’ reflection on Matthew’s Gospel as a model for how preachers should share God’s love. “I must live in such a manner that others clearly recognize in me a person who loves God with their whole heart,” de Sales said. “True servants of God, like John the Baptist, lead others to God in their words and deeds.”

Father Ciriaco concluded the evening by echoing St. Francis de Sales’ message of hospitality, which Bishop Chau exemplifies: “As followers of Christ, we lead people to Christ, not to ourselves,” Father Ciriaco emphasized. “How hospitable is it to bring the Word of God to all people, to the deaf community and to all that we encounter?”

Click here to watch Bishop Chau’s full presentation.

The Preaching as Hospitality Formation program of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology seeks to form seminarians, diaconal students and religious and lay graduate students of theology to be compelling preachers who will offer a hospitality of the heart as they break open the Word of God. The initiatives help to form preachers who will understand and embrace preaching as hospitality — a ministry of inviting, welcoming and offering compassion. The program also focuses on newly ordained priests and deacons and newly appointed pastors (less than five years) who are invited to re-imagine their preaching through the lens of Christian hospitality.

To learn more about ICSST’s Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program, please contact Alyssa Carolan at [email protected]. 

Categories: Faith and Service