| Our School |
| Permanent Diaconate |
| Prayers |
| Vocations |
The Permanent Diaconate in Southwark
In the final years of Archbishop Cyril Cowderoy, the first Southwark permanent deacon, Edward Driscoll, was ordained by Bishop Charles Henderson in July 1975. When Archbishop Michael Bowen succeeded to the diocese in 1977 he gave the permanent diaconate his wholehearted support and lost no time in establishing a course of studies for permanent deacons (1978) and four new permanent deacons were ordained in 1980. Since then the steady flow of ordinations has brought the number of our permanent deacons to over eighty. Archbishop Kevin has recently described the restoration of the permanent diaconate as ‘one of the most notable fruits of the Second Vatican Council’ and has authorized a new programme for the On-Going Formation of deacons and put into place provisions for their pastoral care. Each year they will join the Archbishop for a Mass during which they will renew their commitment to diaconal service – from 2007 this will take place on a Saturday close to 2nd May – the anniversary of the Archbishop’s Episcopal ordination. This year, however, for the first time, all our deacons renewed their commitment at the ordination of five new deacons on 10th June – a great celebration of the permanent diaconate in Southwark, where, to date, 107 permanent deacons have been ordained.
This rapid growth has been reflected throughout England and Wales, where more men than ever – well over 100 from nearly every diocese – are now in formation (70 of whom are from the nine dioceses on our Southwark-directed formation programme at Wonersh). The permanent diaconate has also been restored in every diocese in Scotland and will soon be restored in Ireland.
Deacons and their wives on retreat at Merville
The On-Going Formation Programme for permanent deacons in our diocese includes two annual retreats, one for deacons only at The Friars, Aylesford, and another for deacons and wives together at Merville, France.
The Merville Retreat, which took place this year from 13-15th May and led by
Fr Damian Cassidy O Carm , is now a well established event and those who try it once tend to keep going back. The distance is not vast
and many participants find they can combine the retreat with a small holiday by extending their stay at the Maison d'Accueil in Merville before or after the weekend retreat.
It is hoped that still more deacons with their wives will consider coming next
year; the date will be from 11-13th May 2012
|
What is a Deacon? He is a man called by the Bishop of the Diocese to Ordination. The Ministry of Charity – The Ministry of the Word – |
The Ministry of the Altar –
He will offer Service at the altar at Mass assisting the Bishop or Priest.
He will distribute Holy Communion at Mass, in hospital and in the homes of the sick, the housebound and the dying.
He will Baptise and prepare people for that sacrament.
He will officiate at Marriages and prepare couples for that Sacrament.
Has the Church always had Deacons?
Right from New Testament times it was so. The Acts of the Apostles 6: 2-4 tell us about the selection of St Stephen and six others:
The twelve summoned the disciples and said; ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables Therefore brothers, pick out seven men of good repute full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty.”
Some Deacons are transitory – that is, they are ordained for a relatively short time as part of their journey to Ordination as a Priest. Indeed over time this became the norm in the Church until the Second Vatican Council.
Some Deacons are Permanent. They remain in this calling for the rest of their lives. They can be single or married. This is how it was in the early Church.
If single, they take a promise of celibacy when they are ordained and they live from then on as celibates.
If married, they may not remarry should their spouse predecease them.
In 1964 the Church recognised a need in the modern world for the diaconal role. So she decided to return to the practise of the first Christian communities and ordain deacons for life-long service.
In 1972 Pope Paul VI stated that the permanent diaconate should be a driving force for the Church’s service towards the local Christian communities as well as a sign or sacrament of the Lord Jesus himself who came not to be served but to serve.
Brief History of the Permanent
The apostles in Jerusalem, finding it difficult to combine the distribution of food to the poor with preaching the word and prayer, appointed seven ministers to serve those in who were in need (cf Acts 6:1-7), charity being considered as central to the ministry of the Church. The apostles handed over this duty to ‘men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom’ by praying and laying hands on them. Among these was Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Saint Paul, writing about 57 AD, includes deacons in his greeting in Philippians (1:1) and writing to Timothy lists the qualities and virtues which all deacons are expected to possess and exercise in their ministry (I Tim 3:8-13), indicating that the diaconate had already become a separate office in the Church. The very term “Diakonia” describes the central characteristic of this order: the deacon is called to service. The witness of the early Fathers of the Church acknowledges the importance of the diaconal ministry. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, about 100 AD, says that it would be impossible to have the Church without bishops, priests and deacons. He explains that their task was nothing less than to continue ‘the ministry of Jesus Christ’.
After the fifth century, however, there was a decline in the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church. From the early Middle Ages the diaconate remained only as a transitional order that men received as part of their preparation for the priesthood. There were occasional exceptions to this rule however, Saint Francis of Assisi, for example, was ordained a deacon but not a priest. But the reality was that the permanent character of this order was abandoned by the Latin Church for many centuries.
During the Second World War, priests who were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps started to appreciate the benefits that permanent deacons would bring to the Church and the idea was discussed in Catholic periodicals and books. In 1957, Pope Pius XII spoke favourably about restoring the permanent diaconate, but concluded that ‘the time is not yet ripe’.
The Second Vatican Council decided that the time was ripe. The permanent character of the order was restored and renewed when the Council in October 1963 called for the reestablishment of the ministry of the permanent deacon. In June 1967, Pope Paul VI carried out the desire of the Council when he published the Apostolic Letter Sacrum diaconatus ordinem in which he re-established the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church. The Council, in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, echoes the ancient image and concerns of the New Testament when it speaks of the ministry and nature of the diaconate:
At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom hands are imposed "not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service”. For strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with the bishop and his group of priests they serve in the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God. It is the duty of the deacon, according as it shall have been assigned to him by competent authority, to administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramental’s, to officiate at funeral and burial services. Dedicated to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of the admonition of Blessed Polycarp: "Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all." (Lumen Gentium para. 29)
The roles of deacons outside of the liturgy varies greatly, depending upon the needs of the parish(es) in which they serve. These include:
- Administrative roles - such as managing parishes when there is no priest available
- Ministry to the sick and aged - pastoral ministry in hospitals and nursing homes. A number of deacons serve as chaplains.
- Ministry to the poor
- Ministry to those with drug or alcohol problems
- Prison Ministry
- Ministry to the mentally/physically disabled
- Christian education - including teaching CCD, classes for the Order of Christian Initiation, and sacramental preparation (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, and Marriage)
- And many more.
There are a number of things that deacons cannot do (they are reserved to priests):
- They cannot consecrate the Eucharist
- They cannot hear confessions
- They cannot administer the Anointing of the Sick
Most deacons are not paid for their service and volunteer their time out of love for God and the Church.
Please Contact Fr Jim or Reverend Stephen for more information
