Columban pioneer in working with the Deaf

Today, 18 December, is the 16th death anniversary of Columban Father Joseph Coyle who first came to Negros in 1962. He died just a couple of days before the 30th anniversary of his ordination, aged 54. Father Joe was from Derry in Northern Ireland. He was a true pioneer, gradually becoming aware of the needs of persons with disabilities, especially while in Hinoba-an, the most southern town in Negros Occidental and in the then Diocese of Bacolod. It’s now part of the Diocese of Kabankalan.

He came to realize that the most isolating physical disability of all is deafness. Many of us who have both our sight and hearing think that blindness is worse than deafness. But a profoundly deaf person has no common language even with his own parents.

You can access an article I wrote about Father Joe and Mrs Salvacion Valderrama Tinsay, ‘Tita Salving’, who worked with him and who continued and developed his work. She is now very ill and I ask your prayers for her. The article appeared in Columban Mission, the magazine of the Columbans in the USA: http://www.columban.org/content/view/204/78/