Writings

1998

July 1998
Pastoral Letter on the Permanent Diaconate

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Introduction
In November 1997 I convened a Diocesan Assembly to discuss, among other matters, the possibility of introducing the Permanent Diaconate into the Diocese. Several months prior to that Assembly printed information on the Diaconate was disseminated throughout the Diocese, followed by public meetings, held regionally, to provide additional information and allow conflicting points of view to be expressed.

While the final decision has always rested with me, I thought it important to listen to what was being said and to consult widely on this important matter. I was surprised at the vehemence of some against the introduction of the Permanent Diaconate. However, at the Diocesan Assembly itself, representatives of the Diocesan community were fairly evenly divided: half were in favour of the immediate introduction of the diaconate, while the other half advised delay until issues of clericalisation, role and gender had been satisfactorily resolved.

After considerable prayer and reflection I wish to inform the Diocesan community that I have decided to introduce the Permanent Diaconate into the Diocese. This Pastoral Letter will outline my thinking on the matter and try to address the real concerns expressed by many cautioning delay.

Baptismal Call
By Baptism the whole Church is called to the service of the Kingdom of God by participating in the life and mission of the Church (Lumen Gentuim 3). Each baptised person receives unique gifts from the Holy Spirit. So, while we are all called to service and mission we respond to that call in different ways. As a result, a diversity of charisms and ministries emerges from that baptismal call to add a rich complementarity to the fundamental mission of the Church.

"There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all…" (I Cor. 12: 4-6 ƒ).

Central among those charisms and ministries are the Ordained ministries of bishop, priest and deacon.

"By divine institution some among Christ’s faithful are, through the sacrament of order, marked with an indelible character and are thus constituted sacred ministers; thereby they are consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade they fulfil, in the person of Christ the Head, the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling, and so they nourish the people of God." (Code of Canon Law c.1008)

The essential difference between the common priesthood of the faithful and the Ordained person is that the latter is deputed to serve the former. "While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace, the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood…and directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians." (Catechism of the Catholic Church N1547)

The diaconate is a distinct order within the ordained ministry of the Church. Deacons are clerics, not lay people. The grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders strengthens them and makes their ministry fruitful. Because the deacon is an ordained minister he must always minister in union with and for the Church. He no longer acts on his own or in his own name. Neither is he meant to be a substitute for either a priest or a layperson. (Pastoral Statement Chicago 1993)

The deacon, then, is ordained specifically for service in and for the Church. He serves the people of God and is not merely some kind of adjunct to the bishop or the priest.

Pope John Paul II has described the service of deacons as "the Church’s service sacramentalised." They are to be "living signs" of the servant dimension of the Church.

"This does not mean that the deacon has a monopoly on service in the Church. Many of the tasks he performs can be carried out by others in the community, and his ordination is not intended to exclude others from performing those tasks. All in the Church are to serve others. But by liturgical consecration and the empowerment of some among us – that is, the deacons – this call and response to serve is made visible and effective. So, the deacon is a sign and instrument of that manifold service without which the Church cannot be the sign and instrument of the risen Lord Jesus.

In other words, when the deacon assists at the Eucharist – or when he serves in the soup line, the prison, or the hospital – he is meant to be an eloquent reminder to each of us of what we, too, should be doing, what we must continually strive to become, in accord with our own God-given gifts." (Pastoral Statement Chicago 1993)

Thus, the service ministry of the deacon is a sign to the entire community that the Church wishes to serve it with total commitment. While a lay person could serve equally as well, an ordained person is a more intense sign of the Church’s level of commitment by consecrating that person to serve.

I believe that in our diocesan discussions about the Permanent Diaconate this vital aspect of ‘sacramentality’ has been largely ignored. Concerns about the fact that women cannot be ordained deacons and the threat of over-clericalisation have dominated those discussions to the point where the fundamental importance of ‘Sacrament’ and ‘sign’ have been played down. A valuable ministry of the Church could have been denied us.

Women
The discipline of the Church denies the diaconate to women. This denial is a source of extreme pain to many, since they maintain that it is unjust to deny the diaconate to half the people of God.

At the public meetings and at the Diocesan Assembly, both women and men recommended that the Diocese should not adopt the Permanent Diaconate because it excluded women. I have heard their pained cry and I am sympathetic to their arguments. Much of my prayerful discernment about the diaconate focussed on their pleas.

My decision to proceed, however, was not to dismiss those forthright voices but to open up the possibility of new nuances about ordained ministry.

Most permanent deacons will be married. Many will continue to work in their chosen fields in order to support wives and families adequately. Moreover, in their preparation for diaconate and in the exercise of their diaconal ministry, they will and must involve their wives. It is not merely a matter of wifely consent – the deacon’s wife must agree wholeheartedly with her husband’s ministry and, more, co-operate in it.

A wife’s active involvement in her husband’s life and ministry as deacon will inevitably affect the way that ministry is exercised. Women will bring a new dimension to ordained ministry. To some extent this has happened already with the involvement in the ministry of priests of female Pastoral Associates. Admittedly, this involvement of women in ministry still does not open to them full access to ordained ministry; however, it is an influence which will, in my opinion, develop into a more inclusive understanding of collaboration in ministry. That influence is only just beginning.

Clericalism
Another group of people within the Diocese were worried that the diaconate would compromise the Diocesan Pastoral Plan which calls for ‘all members of the diocesan community to work together to meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of God’s people’ (Diocesan Pastoral Plan 2.00.3), by injecting another ‘clerical’ caste which might assume to itself actions common to all the people of God.

This will only happen if we let it!

Rather than prevent the active involvement of all members of the diocesan community, I contend that the deacon’s commitment to serve the common priesthood of the faithful will enhance the co-responsibility of all the baptised. By being a ‘visible sign’ of the Church’s commitment to service, the deacon will remind the people of God of their common baptismal call to serve. More than just ‘remind’ them, he will also facilitate their call to serve by his ordained state.

While deacons would be entitled to wear clerical dress, it would be advisable for them not to do so.

As a sign of the Church’s commitment to service they should be given specific ministries by the Bishop which are not to be confused with parish and priestly ones. It will require a certain discipline of us to restrict the deacon to non-parish tasks so that his true identity can be protected and developed. It would be a mistake to place a deacon in a parish which does not have a resident priest and thereby run the risk of blurring priestly and diaconal roles. This could contribute to a perception of excessive ‘clericalism.’

However, the deacon fulfills a liturgical role which enables him to preach and baptise. This will be exercised in a parish, and when thus involved, the deacon will assist a priest and wear his diaconal vestments.

Relationship with Bishop and Priests
The Sacrament of Holy Orders includes the episcopate, the priesthood and the diaconate. A full appreciation of Orders is incomplete without the diaconate. The latter’s emphasis on service complements the role of the priest who presides over the Eucharistic community and is a minister of Word and Sacrament in union with the Bishop.

Deacons are not "pretend priests", nor do they compete with priests. Deacons must exercise their ministry in communion with and at the direction of, the Bishop. Bishops and priests exercise their ministry by virtue of their acting in the person of Jesus Christ, the Head and the Shepherd. "The diverse functions proper to ordained ministers form an indivisible unity and cannot be understood if separated, one from the other." (Instruction on Certain Questions Regarding Collaboration, 2).

In the same way, deacons do not compete with lay people, nor do they presume to themselves acts of service which lay people already perform. The deacon is a ‘living sign’ to the entire Church of how we should all serve more conscientiously. The deacon will, therefore, inspire the laity to a better service of others.

Rather than confuse, therefore, the deacon will shed light on the complementary roles of Bishop, priest and laity. Perhaps we may all become free to assume our proper roles!

Conclusion
Despite some obvious difficulties and expressed concerns, I have decided to press ahead. I think it will always be possible to find reasons not to proceed with change. If we were to wait for the right set of circumstances to occur, we would wait forever! Life’s experience tells us that we are a people constantly in motion and there is rarely, if ever, a moment when all the factors fall neatly into place.

The Bible reminds us constantly that we are a pilgrim people and all we can do is rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us on our way.

While we step out in faith we do not do so blindly. On the contrary, if would be irresponsible of us to embrace such an important ministry as that of the deacon without adequate preparation. I am pleased that, as a Diocese, we have engaged in considerable thought, discussion and prayer. As Bishop I have found the process most valuable in forming my own opinions.

The Holy Spirit leads us to extraordinary possibilities in the Church. The Acts of the Apostles reveals this action of the Spirit in and through the community of the Church. My firm belief is that the Holy Spirit continues to guide this local Church of Maitland-Newcastle, by urging us to proceed with the Permanent Diaconate.

I trust that as the Spirit inspires us to greater things, the same Spirit will enable those who objected to the introduction of the Permanent Diaconate to live with its implementation in this Diocese.

May Mary "the woman of attentive silence, make us docile to the promptings of the Spirits’ love and ever ready to accept the signs of the times which you place along the paths of history". (Prayer of Pope John Paul II for the Year of the Holy Spirit)

Most Reverend Michael Malone
Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle

Sources:
1. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium)
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church
3. Code of Canon Law
4. Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons
5. Pastoral Statement "The call to Service," Chicago 1993
6. Instruction on certain questions regarding the collaboration of the non-ordained faithful in the sacred ministry of priests
7. Diocesan Pastoral Plan, Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle
8. Several articles on the Permanent Diaconate

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