Fr Cyril Axelrod shakes my hand, then he takes my index finger and motions me to trace my name on his palm. I trace K, R, I and S. He nods, mouths my name, smiles and then squeezes my hands.

I believe God has planned everything perfectly: He is using me to help others

The 70-year-old South African-born Redemptoris priest is the only deaf-blind Catholic priest in the world and he was recently in Malta on a mission: to train Maltese on how to behave around people with disabilities.

He walks into The Times office with a white stick in one hand, using his other hand to gently clasp the arm of Fr Martin Micallef, the director of Id-Dar tal-Providenza where he had been staying.

Dressed in his black cassock, he moves slowly but seamlessly around the hustle and bustle of the newsroom. His world may be silent and dark but his body language does not betray this.

Fr Cyril was born with Usher’s Syndrome. This relatively rare genetic condition is initially characterised by hearing loss and later by a gradual loss of vision. He completely lost his sight 12 years ago.

An interpreter, Rita Vella, says it is the first time she has signed for a deaf-blind person: “Instead of seeing the signs, he has to feel them.”

She translates the questions into sign language and he holds her hands while she does so. Then he signs his answer and Ms Vella, one of only three full-time interpreters for the deaf in Malta, relays it.

This sounds laborious but in fact it is not, and the interview flows as any other. When the photographer sits in, Fr Cyril pats his bald head and jokes: “Wait, let me comb my hair first.”

Modern technology, he says, helps him communicate. To prove his point, he whips out his iPhone, connected to an electronic Braille contraption via Bluetooth. Through this, he is able to read text messages, use Facebook, read blogs and send e-mails.

He only learnt Braille 13 years ago.

“Before I became completely blind I underwent some training: how to read Braille, how to use a mobile stick and how to live independently,” he said.

These days, he is based in London where he helps the deaf community in Camden Town. He lives alone in a flat and even does his own cooking.

Specialised carers visit to support him three times a week. “It’s important to highlight that they support me, not help me,” he notes politely.

They guide him to the supermarket and direct him to where the items he needs are but he picks up the groceries himself. They also help him catch the bus when he needs to.

He has not let his disabilities limit his movement and uses trains and aircraft frequently. He always makes sure travel agents are aware he is deaf and blind and staff is then instructed to talk to him by tracing words on his palm.

But he also carries little cards in his pocket that read: “I am blind and deaf” and “Please tap me on the shoulder to speak to me”.

“So far, it has always worked,” he chuckles. And there is no doubt about that, as he travels the world to help organisations and schools for the deaf in China, Africa, England and South Africa.

For Fr Cyril, his own independence is very important.

“And it’s essential that people are aware of that,” he says.

He is very conscious of the fact that many people in society are often flustered or overwhelmed when they meet a person with a disability and they do not know how to behave.

“People never ought to just barge in with their help but should ask the person with the disabilities to explain what sort of help s/he needs,” he says.

His lifelong mission as a priest has been to support and develop training programmes for people who work with the deaf and the blind to communicate, to guide and offer support for disabled people.

The Curia in Malta will be sponsoring him to visit twice yearly to help the blind and deaf community.

The Malta Deaf Association estimates there are about 400 deaf people on the island and out of these only 120 are sign language users.

The Malta Society of the Blind says there are 2,800 people who are living with vision impairment.

“There is a great need here and I feel it is a big mission for me to change this mentality,” Fr Cyril says.

He is spurred on by his own experience. “The only thing that upsets me is when people try to limit my independence,” he says.

“All they have to do is ask me. They do not need to feel frightened because I will explain how to communicate and that will make us both feel better.”

Although blind, he retains a clear vision for a world of inclusion where the able-bodied and disabled live and work together and learn from each other.

“When there’s disability there’s always hope. If we work together we can form good relationships and we can understand each other. With good understanding everything else will follow,” he says.

It is quite impressive how he does not consider his disabilities as a handicap.

“Far from it: I consider my disabilities as a blessing,” he says.

Did he get angry when he lost his sight on top of his deafness? He starts laughing.

“No, no. I believe God has planned everything perfectly: He is using me to help others. God wants me to bring hope.”

The road to priesthood

While studying philosophy and psychology in the US, Fr Cyril noticed that some deaf people at Mass were completely missing out what the priest was saying.

“That was when I decided to become a priest,” he says. “I became a priest to sign the message of God to the people.”

He was the first deaf priest to be ordained – there are now 12 others – although Fr Cyril is still the only deaf-blind priest in the world.

When he returned to South Africa, he defied apartheid and established a multiracial school for deaf children in Soweto, a hostel for deaf homeless people in Pretoria and an employment centre in Cape Town.

Despite his busy workload, Fr Cyril enjoys studying and reading. He speaks nine languages and even wrote his memoirs, And the Journey Begins.

He enjoys going to the gym and does Tai Chi.