Cyril Axelrod

Cyril Axelrod
Father Cyril Bernhard Axelrod CSsR (born 24 February 1942) is a deafblind Catholic priest of the Redemptorist Order, known for his work with deaf and deafblind people. He has ministered to the deaf and deafblind around the world, including in South Africa, China and the United Kingdom. In 2014 he became the first deafblind person to become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Biography
Cyril Axelrod was born as Sheftil ben Avram Abba on 24 February 1942 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was born profoundly deaf to hearing parents who were Orthodox Jewish. His grandfather was a rabbi, and his parents spoke Yiddish, with little knowledge of English.
He attended St. Vincent's School for the Deaf in Johannesburg.
As a young man he planned to become a rabbi, but after a difficult spiritual journey, converted to Catholicism in 1965. From 1962 to 1965 he studied accounting and became a certified bookkeeper. He decided to become a priest when he noticed fellow deaf people at Mass who could not understand what the priest was saying. From 1965 to 1966 he traveled to the U.S., studying philosophy at Gallaudet College and Catholic University of America. Axelrod trained for the priesthood at St. John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria, South Africa, and was ordained in Johannesburg in November 1970. At the time, he was the second born-deaf person to be initiated.
His new parish would consist of the deaf people throughout South Africa, using eight indigenous sign languages. He entered the Redemptorist order in 1975. Axelrod was dismayed to find black deaf children in South Africa, some as old as 15, who were unable to read, write or sign as a result of discriminatory education policies. Axelrod also encouraged the adoption of one universal sign language in South Africa to promote opportunities for black deaf South Africans. Defying apartheid, he established multiple multiracial institutions, including a school for deaf children in Soweto, a hostel for deaf homeless people in Pretoria, and an employment center in Cape Town.
He worked to have schools, community centers, and homes built for deaf people around the world. In 1988 he traveled to Hong Kong and Macau, spending twelve years in Macau and setting up multiple services for deaf people there, including a center for deaf children and the Macau Deaf Association. He would travel on missions in the U.S., Malta, and Australia, among other locations.
Axelrod was diagnosed with Usher syndrome in 1979, which would mean he would gradually lose his sight. He was completely blind by 2001, using finger signing to communicate. He moved to London in 2000, where he studied braille and worked with the organization Deafblind UK as their Pastoral Support Development Coordinator. He also qualified as a massage therapist. In 2013 he made the news in South Africa when Comair staff would not let him board a flight alone because of his deafblindness, even though Axelrod had traveled independently for many decades; Comair later offered to provide a guide to travel with Axelrod for free.
Axelrod published an autobiography in 2005, And the Journey Begins, which describes his difficult childhood, his spiritual journey, and his pastoral ministry. A book of his paintings was published in 2020, titled Light in silent darkness.
Honors
Gallaudet College awarded Axelrod the Edward Minor Gallaudet Award in 1982 for his work in promoting "the well-being of deaf people of the world." Axelrod received an honorary doctorate from Gallaudet University in 2001.
In 2014, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to the development of deaf blind services in Hong Kong". Axelrod was the first deafblind person to have received that honor.
References
Further reading
1942 births
Living people
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism
Deafblind people
South African blind people
Deaf religious workers
Blind clergy
South African Roman Catholic priests
South African deaf people
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Clergy from Johannesburg
Redemptorists
South African Jews
South African expatriates in China
South African expatriates in the United Kingdom
Gallaudet University alumni