Permanent Deacons

The title "deacon" comes from a Greek word meaning "servant." In the Catholic Church, a deacon is ordained by the bishop and is a member of the clergy. Once ordained, the deacon enters into a new set of relationships: he is permanently and publicly configured to Christ the Servant, he shares in the pastoral responsibility of the bishop to care for all the people in the diocese, and he becomes an integral part of the ministerial structure of the Church, in partnership with priests, serving the needs of the entire diocese. By virtue of his ordination, he is called to the three-fold ministry of Word, Sacrament, and Charity.

The Office of the Permanent Diaconate has the task of fostering vocations to the Permanent Diaconate and discerning whether or not God is calling a particular person to the diaconate. The Office coordinates the different people involved in the formation of new deacons, supervises the work of education in its various dimensions, and maintains contacts with the families of married aspirants and candidates, and with their communities of origin. It also seeks to minister to the needs of deacons and their families, as well as to provide them with opportunities for continued academic, spiritual, pastoral, and human formation. The Office supports the Archbishop and the Office of Clergy in the placement and support of deacons in parishes and other assignments.

" Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach."
-Rite of Ordination of Deacons