Can Mass Be Celebrated in Sign Language?

Is sign language permitted for the Liturgy, and is Mass celebrated in sign language valid if a priest doesn’t vocalize the Words of Consecration?

In 1966, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published an edition of their bimonthly journal Notitiae answering just that question. They responded that sign language is valid for the Liturgy.

“It is the only system by which the deaf can truly actively participate in the sacred liturgy. As a matter of fact, to certain Conferences of Bishops that asked, the Most Blessed Father recently kindly granted that the language that is called gestural can be employed in the celebration of the liturgy for the deaf, whenever a pastoral reason suggests it in all the parts which are said in the vernacular language.”

Watch below a signed Mass where the priest signs the Words of Consecration while the concelebrant elevates the Body and Blood.

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