Ministry for All

As the Archdiocese of Newark’s newest auxiliary bishop, Bishop Bismarck Chau brings a longstanding commitment to serving the deaf Catholic community.

Teaching and care for deaf Catholics of all ages is not just an element of Bishop Bismarck Chau’s priestly ministry; it has defined and enriched his vocation at its core. Since he was a young priest, it has been a singular expression of his passion to serve the people of God.

Most Rev. Bismarck Pedro Chau ’04/M.Div. ’08/M.A. ’08/M.A. ’21/Ed.S. ’21, the newest auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, is a beloved local pastor whose focus on an often-marginalized community within the Catholic Church follows the example of Jesus, and he carries forward a decades-long tradition that has existed within the Church of Newark. For him, it is largely a matter of addressing a longstanding injustice.

Early in life, the experience of his deaf sister opened Bishop Chau to an understanding of what the Catholic Church could — and did not — offer: she found welcome and a supportive community in a Baptist congregation, who recognized and served her needs as a deaf Christian.

Starting from his ordination to the priesthood in 2008, Bishop Chau learned to celebrate Mass in American Sign Language and received the blessing of Archbishop John J. Myers for his ministry to the deaf. He moved through assignments as campus chaplain in Newark to the pastorship of Saint John and Saint Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral, also in central Newark, with a zealous commitment to serving this minority of Catholics — countering prejudices and misperceptions of the deaf as disabled. “They are not. A deaf person can do everything a hearing person can, except hear,” he says.

In addition to celebrating Mass in ASL, Bishop Chau provides essential pastoral services to the deaf community throughout New Jersey, including confession, anointing of the sick, counseling on life matters and spiritual direction. He has also expanded this work through teaching, serving as the liturgy instructor for the Immaculate Conception Seminary program offering ASL to seminarians and students in 2019.

For Bishop Chau, there remain continuing areas of frustration in serving the deaf, which he notes should be of concern to all Catholics. “We need to focus on kids because a lot are growing up without faith,” he says, “and they are falling behind in school as well as in faith.”

Today, as most parents seek to “mainstream” non-hearing children, the specialized education traditionally provided by schools for the deaf is falling away, so language and life skills are not being taught in an environment focused on their needs, and religious education has lagged for the youth.

In his outreach efforts, he notes, “It’s like working with any minority group — language and culture do not exclude them from the community, and they must not feel excluded, as some do.”

He emphasizes expression in American Sign Language, with body movement and facial expression to help convey the Gospel in a clear and compelling fashion. When preaching, he moves closer to the congregation. “I want them to go home changed. I want nothing to stand in their way,” he says.

When the congregants respond, connect and question — when they “ooh and aah,” he said, “that just melts me. I really involve them in sharing the Word. And they do not forget that.”

As the only priest in the archdiocese who knows ASL, he celebrates Mass in sign language every fourth Sunday in the chapel of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

At his episcopal ordination at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, last September, Bishop Chau drew enthusiastic cheers and applause for his greeting to deaf Catholics in ASL. It was a signal moment in one priest’s vocation of service to those most in need of hearing the Word of God to bring hope and healing to their hearts.

Greg Tobin, M.A. ’06 is the former interim vice president of university advancement and author of The Good Pope.