(Second of two parts)
My dear friends,
I stated last time that the ministry of service is an integral part of the permanent diaconate. In fact, the first deacons were ordained by the Apostles precisely to care for the widows of the Greek-speaking Christians in Jerusalem.
Those first deacons were responding to a need that arose in the early Christian community. The permanent deacons of today are called to do the same. That is why we are revising our 20-year-old formation program for permanent deacons: to better meet the changing needs of the archdiocese.
As of now, the selection and training of new candidates is suspended. Current deacons and those who are in the process of formation are not affected. That means that new deacons will continue to be ordained for the archdiocese until 2001. After that, no ordinations will take place until 2005.
The reason for this is simple. Until now, we have accepted a new, small class of deacons each year, meaning three groups of deacons were studying simultaneously: some in first year, some in second, some in third. From now on, we will accept only one, large class of deacons every three years, and they will all train together. So instead of ordaining a group of five or six deacons every year, we will ordain a group of 25 or so every third year.
The other major change in deacons' formation is a re-focusing of the program, from service to a particular parish to service to the Church at large. Over the years, the understanding had been that a deacon was ordained to serve his home parish, to do whatever his pastor assigned him.
The concept of ordination for service to the Church, however, is much broader. Deacons, like priests, are ordained for service to the Church as a whole, not to a parish in particular. That does not mean that they cannot be assigned to their parishes. But at this time we need to consider more encompassing types of service.
Indeed, some parishes have an abundance of deacons, while the archdiocese as a whole is desperately in need of chaplains in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons. Who better than deacons to fill these positions?
We already have a group of deacons doing excellent work in Bereavement Ministry. They go to funeral homes to lead wake and graveside services for families, many of them Hispanic, who identify themselves as Catholic even though they have not attended church in many years. Afterward, the deacons make follow-up visits, helping families to deal with their grief as well as reminding them that perhaps now is a good time to return to their faith community.
We also recently appointed 10 deacons to be liaisons between Catholic Charities and clusters, or groups, of parishes. The deacons' job is to let the pastors and parishioners in their area know where they can obtain help for their people, such as rent money, job referrals, immigration advice, legal aid, emergency shelter and even housing and food.
The help is out there. It's just that many times the average priest or lay person is not “plugged” into the social justice system. The deacons will be the connection point.
We also are encouraging more deacons to consider becoming hospital or prison chaplains. Our prison population, for example, is estimated to be 27 percent Catholic. We do not have a matching proportion of available priest chaplains. Neither do we have a large or constant enough presence in our area hospitals.
I am calling upon our deacons to fill these jobs. Of course, they will need special training, in addition to their three years of study in theology, liturgy and pastoral skills. But I have every confidence that our permanent deacons can and will volunteer to serve these needs of the modern church.
We believe that, by virtue of ordination, the deacon represents Christ on earth, the Christ who came “to serve, not to be served.” The deacon's presence in a particular place conveys the presence of Christ himself, and by extension, the deacon officially represents the Church.
Just as the Apostles appointed Stephen and six other men to take their place in serving the needs of the widows and orphans of the early Church, I am confident that our own “reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom” will give exemplary service to the “widows and orphans” of our day: those who are sick, those who are imprisoned, those are poor and those who grieve.
