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The Permanent Diaconate is new and yet it is very old, having its origins in apostolic times and flourishing in the first four centuries of the Church’s history. From its very beginning, the role of the deacon has been to serve the members of the church performing duties that assisted both bishops and priests. We find in early Church letters from Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Origen, Eusebius, and Egeria a fourth century Spanish nun on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, witness to the various roles carried out by deacons in liturgy, in preaching the Word, and in acts of service and charity, all setting the norm for today’s diaconate. While the diaconate continued for many centuries as an effective part of the church’s ministry, it was not destined to retain its original importance. During the middle ages, for very complex reasons, the diaconate as permanent ministry disappeared. In the Eastern Church, the deacon’s liturgical roles were fully retained, though the role of serving the needs of the community was gradually diminished. In the It was the second Vatican Council that restored the diaconate as a permanent ministry in the Church. In the discussions before, and at the council that led to this decision, three primary motives were at work. The first was a desire to restore to the Church the full complement of active apostolic ministries. A second motive was the desire to integrate and strengthen with sacramental ordination and grace those who were, in fact, already exercising diaconal functions. The third goal was to provide ministers for those regions where functions vital to the church’s life could not be carried out. In 1967, Pope Paul VI re-established the permanent diaconate in the Latin Rite, and placed the decision regarding its local restoration in the hands of each nation’s Episcopal conference. On May 2, 1968, the U.S. Catholic bishops petitioned the Holy See for permission to establish the permanent diaconate in our country. They received a favorable response on August 30, 1968. In 1983, the Diocese of Manchester ordained twelve men to the Diaconate, and in 2002 a second class of deacons was ordained. We are also thankful for the many deacons who have transferred into our diocese. Presently there are about fifty Permanent Deacons serving in our Diocese. Since it was restored, the diaconate, especially in the Deacons are not ordained for service to a particular parish but rather to serve the needs of their bishop and diocese. After ordination deacons are assigned to meet those needs by their Bishop.
Diaconate Links: The identity and ministry of the permanent deacon.
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