UGCC to Develop Approach to Serve People with Hearing Impairments
LVIV – According to the Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Fr. Oleh Lazurkevych, director of Nadiya (Hope) Center for Serving the Hearing Impaired, reported that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is developing its own approach to minister people with hearing impairments. “The basic direction of work of the Nadiya Center is address on a wider level the difficulties of the hearing impaired in the church, at the same time forming an understanding of the spiritual necessities of the hearing impaired. We are studying the UGCC’s work in the past in this area. Also we are observing the activity of communities, in particular in schools and societies of the hearing impaired,” said Fr. Oleh Lazurkevych.
Nadiya has good contacts with centers abroad, for example with the International Catholic Foundation for the Service Deaf Persons, headed by Archbishop of Liverpool Patrick A. Kelly. The center cooperates with Leuven Catholic University (Belgium) and University of Saint Thomas (Miami, USA), where there departments and programs of chaplaincy for the deaf. “This experience of service to people with the special needs in Ukraine and abroad will become a basis for our own, inherent to our church approach to resolve urgent problems,” said Fr. Oleh.
The history of educational organizations, work, and leisure for the deaf in Halychyna is quite long. Similar centers appeared as far back as the 18th century. Afterwards, in 1830, one of the first schools for deaf children in Ukraine was founded in Lviv. The UGCC has always played a big role in the life of people with special needs. At one time in the center of Lviv there was a church where people with special needs could find support. The idea of a center of special ministry is not new.
The Nadiya Center for Serving the Hearing Impaired has operated in the Lviv Archeparchy since March 12, 2009. The organizer and director of the center since its foundation is Fr. Oleh Lazurkevych.
Background information
According to the data of World Federation of the Deaf there are 278 million people with hearing impairments (about 4% of the population) in the world. According to statistics of the Ukrainian Society of the Deaf (USD) from 2009 in Ukraine there are about 57 thousand people with hearing impairments. In the Lviv region there are 2,641 people, and in the city of Lviv – 1,098.
