August 2003

Questions Bishops are asked

Catholic Outlook, August 2003
By Bishop Kevin Manning

Q: I was present at the recent ordination of a permanent deacon. I don't know much about deacons at all. Can you explain what a permanent deacon is?

A: In the first centuries of the Church there were three groups of ordained clergy: Bishops, priests and deacons. In the New Testament you can find quite a few references to deacons. As time went by and the formation of priests developed it came about that the diaconate became part of the pathway to being a priest.

The Second Vatican Council restored the older practice and permanent deacons share in specific ways in the threefold ministry of the ordained: teaching, sanctifying and guiding.

Men preparing for the priesthood are still ordained deacons and spend some time in this ministry in order to better prepare themselves to become priests. These deacons are sometimes referred to as transitional deacons or, simply, deacons.

It is important to be clear that the permanent diaconate exists as one of the three Orders: it exists in its own right. Permanent deacons are not ordained because of a shortage of priests. If that were so, we would have completely failed to understand what being a deacon is about.

I know that the ordinary parishioner who attends Mass on Sundays may see the deacon perform some, but not all, of the liturgical functions that a priest performs. Consequently, there may be a tendency to think of deacons as part priests.

This is a tendency to be avoided because it does not do justice to the vocation of the deacon, which may be expressed as diakonia, service.

The service of the deacon is traditionally expressed as the threefold service of the word, altar and charity. The Rite of Ordination of a Deacon, the documents of Vatican II and subsequent Church teaching make it clear that the diaconate is about a particular service.

Diaconal service, however, is more than a personal service, some charitable act a person might do for another. It is more than a personal service because it is linked to the Bishop's role of service.

Pope Paul VI wrote: "the deacon is at the service of the Bishop in order that the Bishop may serve the whole People of God"1. This aspect of the deacon's ministry is seen especially in his concern for the sick and the poor, but this ministry is carried out, and this service is offered, in the name of the Bishop.

Diaconal ministry is most visible in the service of word and altar. We see the deacon as teacher when he proclaims the Word and preaches. We see him sanctifying in his ministry at the altar during the celebration of the Eucharist, in the Sacraments of Baptism and Marriage, and as guide when he "animates the community or a section of ecclesial life".

The structure of diaconal ministry operating now in the Diocese of Parramatta reinforces the vocation of service. By that I mean that, generally, the permanent deacon will continue, at least part-time, in his own profession rather than be assigned on a full-time basis to a parish or other ministry.

Pope John Paul II called all to contemplate the face of the Christ in the new Millennium, the time of the new evangelisation. It is the deacon who brings to the world the serving face of Christ.

In his family life, professional life, engagement in society, he can humanise the world and, in humanising it, he will Christianise it, after the manner of St Ireneus whose phrase "fully alive in Christ" is both an ideal and a compelling pastoral challenge.

The requirement of celibacy does not apply to permanent deacons: therefore they may marry. Following the ancient tradition of the Church, should a deacon's wife die, he may not remarry.

Permanent deacons who are married must be 35 before they can be ordained and must have the consent of their wives. Unmarried men may be ordained when they are 25. All follow a comprehensive formation program in which, with their wives and diocesan personnel, they continue to discern their call to the diaconate.

They must study theology and its associated subjects. Usually, they would study towards a Bachelor of Theology degree. They commit themselves to a life of prayer, reflection, retreats and spiritual direction and, of course, continue in their family life.

The permanent deacon mirrors in his whole life - family, professional, ministerial - the example of Christ who came not to be served but to serve.

1 Ad pascendum, P10

	The Prayer of Consecration during the recent ordination of Nicephorus Wing-Hon Tan (from left): Bishop Kevin Manning, Tan (kneeling), Director of Liturgy Rev Peter Williams and Parramatta seminarian John Watkins.