Canada has its first deaf Catholic priest. Matthew Hysell lost his hearing as a toddler when he contracted meningitis. Raised a Baptist in Michigan, Hysell made the decision to become a priest as a teenager after reading about the priesthood in school. He graduated from City University in New York, then earned a master's in theology from a California program. He next moved to Edmonton to study at Newman Theological College. Hysell was ordained yesterday and is now assigned to St. Theresa’s Roman Catholic Parish and will also serve as a parish priest at St. Thomas Church in the nearby community of Mill Woods. Hysell will celebrate mass using sign language and will hear confessions face to face. Hysell tells the Edomonton Journal, “My next hope is to see someone who was born deaf become a priest in Canada. There is a hierarchy when it comes to this. They would outrank me.”