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ICF - The Chair

The Teaching and Research Chair devoted to the pastoral care for the deaf was founded on an agreement between the International Catholic Foundation for the Service of Deaf People and the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), on the 21st of February of 2001.

ICF and KU Leuven agreed in 2001 that the Faculty of Theology will ensure that the necessary provision is made in its teaching curriculum for items related to the pastoral care of the deaf. At the Master's and licentiate levels in the programmes of Religious Studies an optional course in the pastoral care of the deaf will be offered. The titular of the chair will also be engaged in research in the area of the pastoral care of the deaf.

The present holder of the Chair is Prof.Marcel Broesterhuizen. He belongs to the Department of Pastoral Theology within the Faculty of Theology. As a member of the Department of Pastoral Theology he belongs also to the Centre for Practical Theology.

Below are reports over the activities of the Chair to the Faculty of Theology and to the International Catholic Foundation for the Service of Deaf People, until 2008 annual, from 2008 biennial reports.

Reports

Strategical Plan 2008


From October 2008 on, the Chair will be expanded to 40%. The holder of the Chair agreed with the board of ICF about a strategical plan for this expansion. Read this strategical plan

 

Theses


We publish here some theses students wrote about pastoral ministry with the deaf.
 
Hoan Dinh was born in Vietnam and moved to the USA. Actually he is a priest of the Diocese of Rochester. His motivation to write these theses was a personal one. When he lived in Vietnam, a boy next door was deaf. Hoan Dinh felt that he was an intelligent boy; yet he did not get the opportunity to follow a complete school programme.
 
Hoan Dinh, “Theological Reflection upon Christian Attitudes towards the Deaf and Disabled” (Master’s Degree in Religious Studies, Catholic University Leuven, 2004). >Read this thesis
This thesis is about the attitudes if Christian people in different cultures towards the Deaf.
 
Hoan Dinh, “Ministering Like to Like: The Emergence of Peer Ministry: Ministry among the Deaf within the Local Church” (Master of Advanced Studies in Theology and Religious Studies, Catholic University Leuven, 2005). Read this thesis
In this thesis, Hoan Dinh analyses the proceedings of conferences about pastoral ministry with the Deaf, between 1970 and 2005, among them all the conferences organised by ICF.
 
Father Russel Raj is from Nagercoil in India, where he founded a home for deaf children from Dalit families. Father Russel Raj completed studies in commerce, education and theology. At the Catholic University of Leuven he obtained licentiates in Theology and in Canon Law, and a doctorate in Canon Law.
 
Russel Raj Baktinathan, “Ministering Deaf Children in Indian Context” (Licentiate Thesis, Faculty of Theology, Catholic University Leuven, 2003). Read this thesis
In this thesis Father Russel Raj writes about the specific situation of Deaf people in India, and he formulates some proposal as to the organisation of pastoral ministry with the Deaf in India.
 
Liesbeth Van Ooteghem, "Het Woord van God in gebaren: contradictio in terminis? Onderzoek naar de mogelijkheden van gebarentaal als religieuze taal" ["The Word of God in Signs: Contradictio in Terminis? Study about the Opportunities of Sign Language as Religious Language"] (Master's Degree of Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty of Theology, Catholic University Leuven, 2008).  Read this thesis

In this thesis, Liesbeth Van Ooteghem tries to answer the question if it is possible to use Sign Language as a language for religious communication and liturgy. This is quite well possible, but as to Flemish Sign Language there are some lacunae in religious lexicon. The religious lexicon should be more developed.

Mieke Bleys, "Is God bepaald? De invloed van communicatiemethoden op het geloof en godsbeeld van doven" ["Is God Determined? The Influence of Communication Methods on Deaf People's Faith and Image of God"]. (Master's Degree of Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty of Theology, Catholic University Leuven).

Mieke Bleys describes in this thesis that the communication method and language used in religious education has a deep influence on Deaf people's image of God. Read this thesis