By Catholic News Service • Posted July 20, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis married a young deaf couple in the chapel of his residence at the Vatican.

Teodoro Pisciottani and Paulina Szczepanska, the daughter of a Vatican employee, were married July 9 at the Vatican’s Domus Sanctae Marthae.

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Pope Francis does not often preside over wedding ceremonies — the most recent was a wedding of 20 couples in St. Peter’s Basilica in 2014 that was televised on Vatican television.

The private wedding in July was reported in a regional online news site, ondanews.it, for Salerno, Italy. Pisciottani is from Salerno.

The couple have been active in cultural initiatives for the deaf community in Padova, in northern Italy, including a version of Big Brother for the deaf.