Deacons and Diakonia: "Configured to Christ the Servant"

For the last seven or eight years, I have written a monthly column -- "Priests and Deacons" -- for The Priest, which is a periodical published by Our Sunday Visitor.  Subscribers can access articles online here.  Recently, I have been reviewing several foundational documents, speeches and catecheses on the diaconate.  One such text is an address given by Pope John Paul II to a joint plenary assembly of the Congregation for Clergy and the Congregation for Catholic Education on 30 November 1995.  The Congregations were gathering to prepare two documents on the diaconate, which were eventually published in Feburary, 1998.  This papal address was the official launch of this project.  I think it would be interesting to share some of it here as part of our reflection on deacons and the ministry of charity.

Entitled "Deacons Are Configured to Christ the Servant," the whole address is excellent, but one paragraph is particularly rich in significance.  Here's the first part of what the pope had to say:

“The exercise of the diaconal ministry—like that of other ministries in the Church—requires per se of all deacons, celibate or married, a spiritual attitude of total dedication.  Although in certain cases it is necessary to make the ministry of the diaconate compatible with other obligations, to think of oneself and to act in practice as a ‘part-time deacon’ would make no sense. The deacon is not a part-time employee or ecclesiastical official, but a minister of the Church. His is not a profession, but a mission!”

Deacons often find themselves dealing with a common misperception on the part of some presbyters and laity that they are, in fact, “part-time” ministers.  Such a misperception places the locus of ministry on formal ecclesial structures themselves; the deacon, however, as a full-time minister, exercises diaconal ministry across the full range of human activity: whether he is at home with his family, at work in a secular profession, or functioning at church.  At all times and in every venue he is, in fact, acting as a sacred minister of the Church, and the pope makes this point perfectly clear.

However, the pope wasn't just talking to other people about deacons; his words are important for deacons themselves.  Immediately after the quote above, he continued:

“It is the circumstances of his life -- prudently evaluated by the candidate himself and by the bishop, before ordination -- which should, if necessary, be adapted to the exercise of his ministry by facilitating it in every way.  The many problems which are still to be resolved and are of concern to pastors should be examined in this light.  The deacon is called to be a person open to all, ready to serve people, generous in promoting just social causes, avoiding attitudes or positions which could make him appear to show favoritism.  In fact, a minister of Jesus Christ, even as a citizen, must always promote unity and avoid, as far as possible, being a source of disunity or conflict."

Notice how the pope changes the focus of his comments: it is not only others who need to appreciate the fundamental sacramental identity of the deacon, but the deacon himself must evaluate the rest of his life in light of that identity!  Furthermore, it is the other dimensions of his life that are to be adapted to the demands of ordained ministry, not the other way around.  This is a topic every diaconal aspirant and candidate, and all deacons, and all the wives of aspirants, candidates and deacons, should consider prayerfully and honestly.  How one’s life is forever re-oriented as a result of diaconal ordination lies at the very heart and expression of the deacon’s sacramental identity. 

With this observation, the pope reminds pastors (including bishops) that this is a concern that they too must address.  The deacon is not someone who simply “fits in” the ministerial program as he can; he is a vital member of the ministry and must be treated as such.  Finally, the pope offers a rather nice summary of the pastoral attitude which ought to be the deacon’s: he is to be the very sign of what it means to be Catholic: “open to all, ready to serve people, generous in promoting just social causes.” While all people are called to this, the deacon sacramentalizes these traits.  The deacon must  avoid anything that (“attitudes or positions”) which could be perceived as showing favoritism for one person (or group of persons) over others.  I find it particularly interesting that the pope even highlights the deacon’s role in what me considered the political sphere: that as “a minister of Jesus Christ, even as a citizen, [the deacon] must always promote unity and avoid, as far as possible, being a source of disunity or conflict.

This section of the pope’s address offers a wonderful reflection on the proper orientation of the deacon, a vision of how the deacon ought not only be perceived by others, but how he should see and understand himself and the ordained ministry in which he participates.  It is, in fact, a kind of diaconal world view which can form the foundation of a healthy, well-integrated and transformative diaconate in the Church today.

What do you think?  Apply some of these papal insights to contemporary ministry.

Talk amongst yourselves!

Deacons and Diakonia: Too Many Deacons?

Recently the Diocese of Worcester announced that it was suspending its diaconate formation program pending a thorough review of the pastoral needs of the diocese.  You can read about it here.  The basic question seems to be: "Do we have enough deacons?"

This raises some interesting areas for discussion, especially in light of what we've already examined about the nature of the diaconate.  The article mentions the possibility that there might be enough deacons to meet the needs of the diocese.  Deacon Gerald Du Pont, the current head of the National Association of Deacon Directors, and Fr. Shawn MacKnight, the Executive Director of the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops were both interviewed for the article.

I simply would like to make two points:

1) No one should ever be ordained to any order (bishop, deacon, presbyter) if there is no pastoral need for that ministry.  The ordained ministries do not exist for the good of the ordained themselves, but for the common good and building up of the whole People of God (see, for example, Lumen gentium 18).  We don't often think of this important dimension; it is far more common to speak of the vocation a particular person receives and then responds to.  When approached in this way, a vocation can be (mistakenly) as a personal thing: "I have received a vocation from God to be [bishop, presbyter, deacon]."  However, that is only half the story: an ecclesial vocation is, in fact, just that -- a vocation exercised with and for the Church.  Lumen gentium 29 further states: "It pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to decide whether and where it is opportune for such deacons to be established for the care of souls."  Therefore, to review the pastoral needs of a diocese in terms of the ordained ministers needed is certainly appropriate.  

2)  However, here's the rub.  The question becomes: How do we determine the needs of the diocesan Church?  It is in response to this question that I think we sometimes jump to wrong conclusions.  There is too often a tendency to filter this question through pastors and parishes: "What do our parishes need?"  "How will the deacon fit into these needs?"  But the church is not confined to parishes, nor is the church's service exercised solely through parishes.  Certainly it is important to know about specific parochial needs; but we must ensure that someone is assessing the needs of the broader church and community, and this is precisely a principal diaconal venue of service.

The problem really only arises when deacons are understood primarily as PARISH ministers, not if they are understood as ministering in venues that transcend the parish. 

Further the "funding" of the diaconate should never come solely from parish resources. Whoever "pays" for something feels like they "own" something.  If the deacon is truly a diocesan minister, then the diocese needs to find extra-parochial sources for funding.

In conclusion, I would suggest that it is perfectly reasonable to assess the pastoral needs of the diocesan church for ordained ministry; however, in the assessment of those needs vis-a-vis the diaconate, it should be ensured the widest possible lens be used, and that more than parish-centered needs be worked into the equation.

Deacon: Apostolic Leader in Service

Several months ago, I began a series of reflections on the participation of the deacon in the three-fold functions of Word, Sacrament and Charity.  I had finished the first two munera but never covered the final function of "charity." Let's rectify that at long last.

First, let me point out a few things by way of introduction.  The three-fold office of Word, Sacrament and Charity is described by the Second Vatican Council as the role of the bishop, and all three functions are referred to collectively as a "diakonia," a "service" or "ministry."  It's important, I believe to highlight these points: the fullness of these functions are, in fact, the ministry of the bishop, in whose ministry the deacon (and presbyter) participates; and, second, ALL THREE functions are to be understood as "diakonia".  Quite frequently, people mistakenly assume that "diakonia" refers only to the third of the functions, that of "charity."  It does not, and "charity" does not exhaust the concept of  "diakonia," or service.

This explains why I prefer to use the word "charity" for the third function, not "service" as one often reads.  One last time: all three sets of functions are "service."

As I reflect on the various forms of ministry that "charity" can be exercised, I would like to make two observations: 1) ALL Christian disciples are called to serve as agents of God's love and concern, not "just" deacons.  It doesn't take ordination to visit the sick, care for the homeless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and so on -- it flows from our sacramental initiation!  We are not ordained primarily to "do" charity so that other people don't have to; we shouldn't think, "OK, now I'm ordained, so now I can do prison ministry" (for example).  Doesn't work that way.  2) What is reflected in the church's teaching on the diaconate and in our theology of Order is that all ordained ministries involve the charism of LEADERSHIP.  I have written extensively about this before.  This dimension of leadership applies as much to the order of deacons as much as it does to the order of bishops and the order of presbyters.

Since ordained ministry is a participation in the apostolic ministry, I sometimes refer to deacons as "apostolic leaders in service".

Therefore, as we begin our reflection the deacon's role in "charity," I suggest that we ask how the deacon LEADS (understood as servant-leadership) in this role.  What traits associated with good leadership would apply here?  Leaders are people with vision, who can inspire others to share and be engaged in realizing that vision; a leader cares for the people who serve with him or her; a leader is a good steward on behalf of others.  I believe that this is at the heart of what Pope Paul VI had in mind when he described deacons as the "animators of the Church's service" and when Pope John Paul II taught that the deacon's ministry "is the church's service sacramentalized."

Flying Time: 21 Years of Ordained Ministry

Twenty-one years ago tomorrow, on 25 March 1990, I was ordained to the Order of Deacons by my archbishop, James Cardinal Hickey of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC.  The photograph below was taken during the concluding doxology of the ordination liturgy, with me elevating the chalice for the first time alongside the Cardinal.

 Standing there that day, I had no inkling of the path of ordained ministry on which I was embarking.  At that moment, I was a Commander in the United States Navy, and I was being ordained ahead of my class because the Navy was sending me to Okinawa to serve as Executive Officer of a base there.  My first diaconal assignment from Cardinal Hickey was to be released from the archdiocese for service with the Archdiocese for Military Services, USA.  My intention at the moment of ordination was to finish my tour on Okinawa and then to return to Washington to teach and to serve as a deacon.  Clearly the Holy Spirit had other plans.

That first assignment on Okinawa was a wonderful introduction to ordained service.  I worked with some great Air Force chaplains at Kadena Air Base, where we lived.  Many of my sailors, who also lived on Kadena, were also parishioners, making for an interesting blend of service!  There were challenges during the tour, but overall it was a most positive experience.  I focused a lot on adult faith formation, as well as sacramental preparation, preaching and serving with local Franciscan Capuchin missionaries in the local community.  At the end of that tour, having served 22 years on active duty in the Navy, I retired and returned to the United States.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good job in Washington to support my family, so we returned to the Midwest where I served as Associate Principal and Director of Curriculum and Instruction at a regional Catholic high school.  In addition to serving at the high school, I was a deacon assigned to a large parish, along with two other deacons.  Again, we were blessed with wonderful pastors;  again, I worked closely with adult faith formation and the RCIA team.  I also worked with the diocesan diaconate formation office. 

Out of the blue, after two years, I received a phone call from Cardinal Hickey, inviting me to come back out to Washington to take over the archdiocesan diaconate office.  After being a deacon for only five years at this point, I was now going to be responsible for the formation, ministry and life of more than 250 permanent deacons; that was a scary thought, but it was an exciting prospect, and it was a wonderful experience. I also became a consultant to the national office associated with the diaconate at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC.  In particular, I was blessed to be asked to serve as a member of the editorial committee developing the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States.   Additional diocesan ministry followed, serving as Director of Pastoral Services in two other dioceses before finally joining the senior staff of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.  I served there for more than five years, and in that capacity, became involved with the diaconate, not only here in the States, but in the international community as well.  All of this has become the foundation of the last four years teaching undergraduate and graduate students.


In short, the past twenty-one years have been an unbelievable and totally unanticipated and unpredictable path, and I'm looking forward to the continued surprises the Holy Spirit has in store for the NEXT twenty-one years!

 

On the Road Again: Rome

This is a big weekend for three of us who have been working now for several years to establish an international institute for the advanced study of the diaconate.  Along with Deacon Dr. Enzo Petrolino of Italy and Deacon Rob Mascini of the Netherlands, we three have worked out the details with the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education and with the major Roman pontifical universities to begin the institute in the summer of 2012.  The Institute has received enthusiastic support from the Vatican and from the universities, and this weekend's meetings will finalize many of the administrative details.  These are being handled by the Gregorian University, and we will be establishing fees, procedures and even some of the housing details.  So, we will soon be able to announce and advertise the specifics.

The Institute will be truly international.  We have professors lined up from the United States, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany who will teach advanced courses (i.e., graduate level) for academic credit either through the professor's home institution or from the associated pontifical university.  Courses will range from biblical and patristic studies to systematic and canonical courses, and to spirituality and liturgy.  At this point, courses will be taught in Italian and English, although we will probably expand to German and Spanish as the programs develop.

At this point we're considering a three-week block of time in the early summer.  Each course would be one week in length, with intensive sessions in the morning hours followed by research/tours and other activities in the afternoons.  In this way, students might opt to take ONE course (one week), or THREE courses (if they stay the whole three-week period).  These will be designed for graduate or post-graduate students who will be expected to have read extensively before coming to Rome for the course, and to pursue a serious research project following the course.  Courses would be open to any and all qualified and interested students.

I'll keep you posted!

A Tidbit from Vatican II: Reflecting on the "Hierarchy"

I am a student of the Second Vatican Council.  I was actually in high school seminary during the last three sessions of the Council, and then in college seminary during the first years of its implementation.  The Council was so formative for all of us at that time!  In my studies since that time, Vatican II has always been the foundation for what I've been involved in, and it has been this study that led me to the diaconate.

This semester I am blessed to be teaching a course on the Council to a group of upperclassmen.  We are focusing on the major documents of the Council.  One of the classic bits of history concerning the Council concerns the re-crafting of the foundational document The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen gentium).  It went through several drafts, with the world's bishops rejecting the first draft as completely inadequate to the task.  Many bishops spoke against the first draft, and still more submitted written objections to it.

Perhaps no one was more clear and concise in his concerns than the 53-year old bishop of Bruges, Belgium, Emiel-Jozef De Smedt.  He was ordained a bishop at the age of 40, and served as bishop of Bruges from 1960 until 1984, and didn't pass into eternal life until 1995.  In his speech to the Council about his concerns with the first draft of Lumen gentium, the bishop spoke of three areas of concern: 1) the draft's triumphalism in tone and content; 2) the draft's clericalism; and 3) the draft's juridicism.  His concerns were overwhelmingly affirmed by the Council Fathers and the draft was sent back to Committee for a complete overhaul.

While there is much to consider in Bishop De Smedt's intervention (speech), I was struck once again by his comments on clericalism, and thought I would post a brief quotation here so that it might serve as a point of reflection by all who are, by definition, part of the hierarchy.  Officially, the "hierarchy" of the Catholic Church includes all of the three orders of ordained ministry: bishops, deacons and presbyters.  So the following quote applies to all of them:

In the first chapters of the Draft the traditional picture of the Church predominates. You know the pyramid: the pope, the bishops, the priests, who preside and, when they receive the powers, who teach, sanctify, and govern; then, at the bottom, the Christian people who instead receive and somehow seem to occupy second place in the Church.

We should note that hierarchical power is only something transitory. It belongs to our status on the way. In the next life, in the final state, it will no longer have a purpose, because the elect will have reached perfection, perfect unity in Christ. What remains is the People of God; what passes is the ministry of the hierarchy.

In the People of God we are all joined to others and have the same basic rights and duties. We all share in the royal priesthood of the People of God. The pope is one of the faithful; bishops, priests, lay people, religious: we are all the faithful. We go to the same sacraments; we all need the forgiveness of sins, the eucharistic bread, and the Word of God; we are all heading towards the same homeland, by God's mercy and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But as long as the People of God is on the way, Christ brings it to perfection by means of the sacred ministry of the hierarchy. All power in the Church is for ministering, for serving: a ministry of the Word, a ministry of grace, a ministry of governance. We did not come to be served but to serve.

We must be careful lest in speaking about the Church we fall into a kind of hierarchism, clericalism, episcopolatry, or papolatry. What is most important is the People of God; to this People of God, to this Bride of the Word, to this living Temple of the Holy Spirit, the hierarchy must supply its humble services so that it may grow and reach perfect manhood, the fullness of Christ. Of this growing life the hierarchical Church is the good mother: Mother Church.

A great reminder to all of us yet today!

"Have Stole, Will Travel"

Remember that old TV show from 1957-1963 starring Richard Boone, "Have Gun, Will Travel"?  Well, I'm thinking of putting a similar statement on my own business card, "Have Stole, Will Travel."  Effective 1 June, I will leave my current University teaching position and my wife and I will head West, for the great State of California.  I will be responsible for supporting a number of pastoral ministries in the Diocese of Monterey.  I will direct the offices of catechetical ministries, youth and campus ministry, lay and deacon formation, pastoral planning and so on: whatever the bishop asks me to do.  With the bishop's full support, I will continue to travel and to teach, especially on matters related to the priesthood and the diaconate.

None of that will affect us here at the blog, however!  But I ask that you keep my wife and I in your prayers as we make another transition.  After a lifetime of moving for the US Navy, including a wonderful tour in Monterey some years ago, we are looking forward to moving back to such a beautiful area of God's creation.

Thanks!