Homily for the Jubilee of Deacons

 Pope Francis is currently in hospital and so was not able to celebrate Mass for the Jubilee of Deacons earlier today. His homily was read by Archbishop Fisichella, the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation. The full text is available from the website of the Holy See: Holy Mass and Ordinations to the Diaconate.

In a manner typical of Pope Francis, the homily was structured around three words:

The message of today’s readings can be summed up in a single word: “gratuity”. That is surely a word dear to you as deacons, gathered here for the Jubilee celebration. So, let us reflect on three specific aspects of this fundamental dimension of the Christian life in general and your ministry in particular: forgiveness, selfless service and communion.

It is a short passage at the end of the homily that caught my attention (my emphasis added, as it reflects something of my previous post for the Jubilee of Deacons):

Dear deacons, your mission sets you apart from society only to be re-immersed in it in order to enable it to be an ever more open and welcoming place for everyone. It is one of the finest expressions of a synodal Church, one that “goes forth.”

Soon some of you, in receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders, will “descend” the steps of the ministry. I deliberately say “descend,” and not “ascend,” because being ordained is not an ascent but a descent, whereby we make ourselves small. We lower ourselves and divest ourselves. In the words of Saint Paul, through service, we leave behind the “earthly man,” and put on, in charity, the “man of heaven” (cf. 1 Cor 15:45-49). 

 

Jubilee of Deacons

 The days 21-23 February 2025 are to be marked as a Jubilee of Deacons, that is, as a celebration of the life of the Permanent Diaconate in the life of the Church. Alongside the immediate events of the Jubilee, the Dicastery for the Clergy are holding an International Meeting: Deacons in a Synodal and Missionary church: being witnesses of hope, intended to examine the future of the ministry of Deacons in the Church and launching a consultation to that end.

The introduction to the Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons (1998) refers to how, in its Constitution Lumen Gentium, Vatican II allowed for the restoring of a Permanent Diaconate, indicating three reasons for this choice:

The second Vatican Council established that “it will be possible for the future to restore the diaconate as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy....(and confer it) even upon married men, provided they be of more mature age, and also on suitable young men for whom, however, the law of celibacy must remain in force”, in accordance with constant tradition. Three reasons lay behind this choice: (i) a desire to enrich the Church with the functions of the diaconate, which otherwise, in many regions, could only be exercised with great difficulty; (ii) the intention of strengthening with the grace of diaconal ordination those who already exercised many of the functions of the Diaconate; (iii) a concern to provide regions, where there was a shortage of clergy, with sacred ministers.

The Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons (n.9) describes the office of the Deacon as follows:

The ministry of the deacon is characterised by the exercise of the three munera proper to the ordained ministry, according to the specific perspective of diakonia.

In reference to the munus docendi the deacon is called to proclaim the Scriptures and instruct and exhort the people. This finds expression in the presentation of the Book of the Gospels, foreseen in the rite of ordination itself.

The munus sanctificandi of the deacon is expressed in prayer, in the solemn administration of baptism, in the custody and distribution of the Eucharist, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in presiding at the rites of funeral and burial and in the administration of sacramentals. This brings out how the diaconal ministry has its point of departure and arrival in the Eucharist, and cannot be reduced to simple social service.

Finally, the munus regendi is exercised in dedication to works of charity and assistance and in the direction of communities or sectors of church life, especially as regards charitable activities. This is the ministry most characteristic of the deacon.

 So far as I can tell, the ministry of Permanent Deacons in my own country is exercised mostly in the context of parishes. I think this does lead to a problem, in that the ministry of the Deacon is too easily perceived and experienced as being carried out as a delegation from the parish priest. It also lends itself to the phenomenon of "retirement ministry", that is, the Diaconate being undertaken as something that is done as a man retires from a secular job.

On the contrary, I feel that the Permanent Diaconate is more fully exercised in a secular or professional context. A Deacon who is a school chaplain, for example, can readily exercise aspects of all three of the munera described above within the educational context, and in all likelihood with Qualified Teacher Status. Likewise, a hospital chaplain can exercise their ministry within the professional context of a health care setting, and might well be a trained healthcare professional themselves. Port and industrial chaplaincy can likewise be areas of work for a Deacon who has themselves a competence in one or other of those environments.

Some years ago now Deacon Pat Kearns posted Catholic Deacon - is he a parish activist or something else?, a post in which he describes how he understands his office as a then recently ordained Permanent Deacon. Deacon Pat has now, so far as I can tell from more recent posts on his blog, at least "semi-retired" from a post as a Director of Nursing at a 99 bed in-patient psychological hospital, a post which he held for a number of years. He had previously served as a medic in the US Navy, before working in the civilian nursing profession. If you wish to explore further the life and ministry of Deacon Pat, the homepage of his blog is Diakonia - Deacon Pat Kearns.

Letter to Deacons

On the occasion of the feast of St Lawrence, Cardinal Hummes, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, has written a letter to Permanent Deacons, and English translation of which can be found here, at the ZENIT website.

I was particularly interested by Cardinal Hummes opening remark about the way in which Bishops on ad limina visits to Rome often comment on the permanent diaconate, and see great hope in it. In this country I do not feel that the potential of the permanent diaconate has been fully developed - it has, in my very limited immediate experience, tended to be seen a bit as a "retirement ministry" and as a "helping in the parish" role, rather than being a role in which the deacon gains a ministry "in his own right". I know there are some counter-examples to this impression. What strikes me is that roles such as port chaplaincy and hospital chaplaincy have a clearly diaconal character, though of course they do both need to be exercised in close collaboration with priests. Another interesting thought is the role that a permanent deacon might exercise in one or other of the new movements, being for them an expression of ecclesial communion, of the unity of charism and institution in the Church.

Bishop O'Donoghue on the Permanent Diaconate

In the light of my recent post with regard to the permanent diaconate , I was very interested to come across Bishop O'Donoghue's policy statement on the subject. This was issued in November 2007 and, though it does not appear to be directly part of the "Fit for mission?" review process in the Diocese, it clearly has a relation to that process. The statement can be downloaded from the Lancaster Diocese website: www.lancasterrcdiocese.org.uk, hover your mouse over the "About the Diocese", and click on the "Bishop's messages" link that appears.

Bishop O'Donoghue starts his statement:

We need a new vision of the identity and role of the Permanent Diaconate, one that widens the focus of the deacon from the service of the sanctuary, and sacraments, to embrace the service of suffering humanity, in all its variety. Too often, due to an over emphasis on liturgical and sacramental functions, deacons are seen as ‘mini-priests’ or merely ‘father’s helper’. Obviously, such a misunderstanding about the identity of the deacon is a sign that further development of this ministry is necessary.

Therefore, my main objective for the review is to re-vision the practice of the Permanent Diaconate in our diocese, which I see as an important element of our ‘Fit for Mission’ review.

I would perhaps add an observation about the Permanent Diaconate being seen as a kind of "retirement ministry", something that is taken up at the end of a working life. This lends itself to the misunderstanding of the identity of the Permanent Deacon that Bishop O'Donoghue identifies.

Bishop O'Donoghue includes a hard-hitting summary analysis of the pastoral/spiritual needs of people in his diocese, and presents the Permanent Diaconate as a ministry responding to these needs, the Deacon being a "specialist in Christian care":

However, the deacon is called to a unique role in the Church, because through the sacrament of Holy Orders he is an official representative of the Church. Through his integral, threefold ministry of Altar, Word, and Charity, the deacon is called to makes caritas [love] ‘visible’ as an essential expression of the Church’s nature.

Therefore, as specialists in Christian care, I see deacons having a vital role to play in organizing and extending our Church’s practise of love.

Whilst in many ways the tasks undertaken by a Permanent Deacon could also be undertaken by a lay person, Bishop O'Donoghue identifies the nature of the Deacon as an "official representative" through Ordination of the Church in these fields as distinguishing his identity from that of the lay person. My own thinking has tended to be around the role of the Permanent Deacon as an ordinary minister of the Eucharist, so he can be a presence of the Eucharist in the caring situation in a way that a lay person cannot.

Bishop O'Donoghue has convened a review group to look at the development of the Permanent Diaconate in his diocese. He has set clear terms of reference for the review, from which I extract the following:

Selection of candidates: Men should be chosen who have a clear understanding of the deacon’s unique role in the Church of enabling her practical self-offering in service to humanity.

They should also be equipped through experience, career, personality, or charism to serve as specialists in Christian care. For example, men already working or aspiring to work in social care, counselling, youth work, high school chaplaincy, healthcare, pastoral care, marriage counselling, catechesis. An alternative source of candidates would also be those men with proven ‘experience’ and skills as pastoral leaders, mentors, ‘listeners’, ‘befrienders’, spiritual directors.

Training of candidates: The formation programme should give equal attention to the three diaconal ministries of Altar, Word, and Charity, so as to equip the deacon as a specialist in Christian care. Therefore, the focus of training would shift from competence in liturgy, which will always be important, to embrace pastoral theology and practice....

Employment of deacons: As specialists in Christian care, deacons would have responsibility for leading and facilitating a range of chaplaincies, such as industry, hospitals, schools and colleges, and prisons. They would also develop chaplaincies specializing in the service of specific human need, such as chaplaincy to single-parents, migrants, the bereaved, addicts.

A vision of the permanent diaconate

Diakonia has posted on how he sees his vocation as a permanent deacon. I have to admit to being the one who asked him the question ... but I wouldn't take the first part of the second sentence of his post too seriously (you will have to go and read the post to get that remark!).

The following two extracts are what I found most interesting in Diakonia's post:

Yes, I am allowed to assist with some Sacraments (i.e Marriages, Baptisms, Funerals) and assist at Mass and preach homilies, but my main ministry is meant to be with the people where they live, in their homes, their work, their schools, their jails, and their hospitals.....

I have met some deacons that are exactly what I have been discussing, and I have met others who in my opinion have confused their roles with a priest.

I found this last observation about needing to not confuse the role of the permanent deacon with that of the priest very perceptive. The deacon has a calling that is his own, by virtue of his ordination, and one that is not "dependent" or "delegated" from the priest or bishop. This is a bit like the lay vocation arising from our baptism and being ours by a kind of right, and not by delegation from the clergy. There is an obligation of communion/collaboration, but that is not the same as dependence or being a delegate. Diakonia's post describes this very well.

So perhaps we should look to our permanent deacons to be less priestly and more lay in their character ....