Fr. Mathew Padickal Thomas
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For the deaf
Father Mathew Thomas, who turned 49 May 9, is a native of Kerala, India, who studied economics at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India. One of six children whose oldest brother is deceased, he has many priest friends and comes from a family with “a lot of nuns.” One cousin works with the Missionaries of Charity in Libya, another is stationed in Austria, and two more serve in India.
Currently Fr. Padickal Thomas is Parochial Vicar at St. Paul The Apostle Catholic Parish.
He taught statistics and world economics before discerning a vocation to the priesthood. After thinking about it for three or four years, he entered the seminary in Bangalore, India, in 2002. A motorbike accident made him miss four years of study and left him with a slight limp. It also modified his vocation, to one focused on service to the disabled.
That’s what brought him to the U.S. three years ago, after finishing his master of divinity degree at Christ University in Bangalore. He joined a fledgling religious community, the Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf and Disabled, and has spent the last three years learning American Sign Language and perfecting his English, in Texas, New York and Missouri. He also served at Schott Communities in Cooper City.
“It is really hard for me to come to America,” Father Thomas said. None of his family could come from India for his ordination. But he looks forward to hearing confessions and celebrating Mass in sign language.
Many deaf people are joining Protestant congregations in Palm Beach County, he said, “because we don’t have any Catholic priests here” to serve them. His ordination should change that.
Father Thomas has been assigned to St. Paul the Apostle, Lighthouse Point.
Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC
Archbishop Thomas Wenski lays hands on Mathew Padickal Thomas, ordaining him to the archdiocesan priesthood.
