NEITHER PRIEST NOR LAYMAN
Moriarty, John E.
NEITHER PRIEST NOR LAYMAN JOHN E. MORIARTY The permanent diaconate five years later To understand the permanent deacon in the United States, temetnber Ishmael, son of Abram and the slave Hagar-"a...
...Time itself is the biggest problem...
...Men were recruited from every community with particular success in the black and Spanish-speaking communities...
...Most aren't quite ready for the postman-turned-deacon to baptize their children...
...His interest in personal ministry may continue to consume his time and energy, by-passing an opportunity to the needs and concerns of people...
...There is work going on in community organizations, with the poor, the aged and youth...
...It appears that deacons have already adopted the survival style of the shell-shocked clergy-"doing their pwn thing...
...Training programs popped up all over the country with little direction frdm upstairs...
...Ah approach to evaluation might be to inspect the experience of the diaconate in the Archdiocese of Chicago which boasts the biggest and perhaps best program in the cduntry...
...For example: they are not much interested in the ordination of women, fearing that this might endanger their own recently won acceptance...
...The number of ordained deacons in the Archdiocese roughly equals the number of resigned priests- an interesting statistical fact The motivation is the same -men in middle-age looking for more in an age where options are ever increasing...
...Men will continfle to be attracted to the kind of permanenj but part-time commitment that the diaconate offers...
...A few deacons are overextended and require counseling about their priorities...
...Will the diaconate fail...
...But the seduction remains the same...
...But when Pope Paul issued his letter on the diaconate in 1967, the bishops did an about-face, saluted, and in typical American style began the biggest program in the world...
...However, when they experience the ministry of the deacon in a hospital, for example, they are genuinely touched by bis sincerity and hk total identification with them and their problems...
...Many become the pastor's best friend or a father-figure to the new curate...
...priests either psktroftized the deacon or dismissed him...
...These were more than just brave words...
...This was due in part to a lack of understanding, but mostly to a lack of interest...
...Five years is not a long time when church reform is under consideration...
...Deacons nioved into the area not only because of the need and the inanediate satisfaction it provides but also because they met with little resistance from the local pastoral staff...
...Across dlocesfts about the only thing the training programs had in common was ordination, their graduation diploma...
...Ministry today in the Catholic Church is a revolving door...
...They are the ones who pay the bills...
...Work with the poor, alienated and oppressed will not be appreciated by the deacon's neighbors as much as the direct service-usually liturgical-that he gives them...
...NEITHER PRIEST NOR LAYMAN JOHN E. MORIARTY The permanent diaconate five years later To understand the permanent deacon in the United States, temetnber Ishmael, son of Abram and the slave Hagar-"a wfld ass of a man, his hand against everyone, ana everyone's hand against him...
...Skeptical pastors began to take a second look at the deacon...
...If this question is asked about the ministry of individual deacons, then the answer must be in emphatic "No...
...Paradoxically, acceptance of the deacon by priests may result in the cooptation of the service dimension of diaconal ministry...
...It seems obvious that deacons will tend to perform those services wherein they are rewarded...
...Most damaging has been their failure to organize...
...At this point the bewildered loyal parishioners can't tell tiie deacon from the extraordinary minister without a score card...
...The much heralded service to the community has not fared so well...
...Candidates join a program that provides one of the best experiences of church where he can share his own concern about the meaningful questions of life with other good men...
...One bishop, when questioned about the ordination of Women said, "Over my dead body...
...With ordination he is cloaked with the mantle of sacred orders--one of the most powerful symbols in the world...
...In this case it means dedicate asrvke to meet the real needs of people, in-cbtding the need for a reformed church...
...A bright spot has been the deacon's ministry to the sick...
...The generosity of the deacon is obvious as he contributes on the average more than forty hours of ministry each month to the church...
...The deacon is a highly matured man with a deep spiritual life...
...The Chicago diaconate has a council of elected representatives who are working hard for church reform but it lacks popular support or interest...
...Unfortunately a side-effect may be the gradual erosion of the community service dimension of the diaconate...
...They have not lost their consumer status by their ordination...
...Most were recruited to "help out"-usually in routine pastoral tasks disliked by priests such as distributing communion at six services on the weekend...
...the laity, as usual, were neither considered or consulted...
...Most deacons are spending a lot of time in hospitals and nursing homes-a ministry too long neglected by the new...
...The following observations are based on the experience of moire than 350 deacons and candidates, their wives and men and women who train and The Chicago planners were not interested in the resto-ratiofi of a ministry that bombed out in the fourth century due in part to the envy of priests...
...No one was excluded because of his education or occupation, What was required was a demonstrated interest in service and a love of the church...
...Since they pick their own ministry it is not likely that they will become bored or frustrated-as priests so frequently do...
...Deacons stood next to priests in the Eucharistic celebration, although not always with graciousness on the part of the president of the assembly...
...He prays daily, reads the scripture, attends daily mass, even reads the breviary...
...At this point they do not even represent themselves before the Ordinary, but rather operate through a priest-vicar...
...The deacon has to pay the price, of course...
...Ironically, he may be literally correct...
...The institution touches them rarely-only in the case of placement, transfers and faculties...
...Deacons do not seem to understand that in unity they could become a significant voice in the Archdiocese., Because they are laity within the power structure, deacons could be more important than priest groups...
...However, the strength of the deacon may prove ultimately to be bis weakness...
...He finds himself growing in self-understanding and in practical helping skills...
...Liturgical roles were quickly assumed because they seemed to facilitate acceptance by priests and people-a high priority...
...Half of them ascended the steps of the puplit-a mixed blessing...
...existentially they would be laymen...
...Assessing nationally a program that has more dis-silnilarities than similarities is difficult, if not impossible...
...Prisons are the main interest of some deacons while more are working with addicts and inmates of mental institutions...
...Nor were they particularly involved in supplying support troops for the present-day battle-fatigued clergy caught in a paroxysm of identity crises, authority problems and the persistent leakage from the ranks of some of their best and brightest...
...However, at this point about half of that time is spent in the church building...
...Some of these shortcomings may be corrected with the passage of time...
...Others were permitted to baptize and attend wake services...
...the similarity extends not only to his less-favored son's status but to his origin as Well...
...Deacons insist that they do their best ministry where they work in the neighborhood, but this is not so easily observed or measured...
...Canonically deacons would be dergy...
...The deacon be a radical reformer dedicated to peace and justice, permanently committed in his consistent efforts to express the Word in his deeds Commonweal, March 26, 1971...
...Deacons have not seized control of the training program although they are the only ones who really understand what it means to be a deacon...
...Whatever the problems are, they tend to be minimized by the deacon's increased status, the satisfaction he finds in ministry, the support from the fraternity of deacons, and the sense of doing something more with his life...
...If this would result in a major restructuring of ministry in the church and a dismantling of the power positions, so be it...
...Preaching and baptizing will always provide more status than visiting prisoners or addicts...
...They wanted to train a new breed of ministerial marines dedicated to community service in the name of the church, ministers who would operate in the streets instead of the sacristy...
...In general, bishops ignored the program...
...Deacons do experience marital tensions and someday it Is likely that we will have the phenomenon of the divorced deacon in (he Roman Catholic Church...
...la Genesis, Ishmael became the father of a great nation, but only after he was driven out from his home into the wilderness...
...In five, years more than 220 deacons have hit the beaches in the Archdiocese of Chicago...
...The ultimate victory of the diarona$e nwy rest in its ability to five in a wilderness without the comfom of home...
...Conceived as an afterthought in the Second Vatican Cduncil, the permanent deacon would never have been born in this country fit the American bishops had their way...
...And why not, since he shares them personally...
...The trend seems favorable because the.deacon provides services which will become less available with the declining number of priests...
...Ironically, die church still refuses to allow them to administer the Sacrament of the Sick, despite flimsy theological support for this restriction...
...FATHER JOHN E. MORIARTY is Director of Field Education and acting Executive Director of the Training Program of the Chi-cagd Office of the Permanent Diaconate...
...Candidates were provided with the best training in contemporary theology, the latest techniques for developing practical helping skills, and an opportunity for personal and spiritual growth...
...The new ministers, in such a case, will begin to look very much like the old ministers...
...Ordination should win respect from the community and cooperation from priests...
...They do not experience, in general, financial loss because of ministry...
...This range of attitudes depends, of course, on the openness of the priest and the quality of the deacon...
...There are some who predicted that ministry would disrupt family life and distract the deacon from his work...
...The deacon tends to be serious about his professional development, expressing this by his reading and enrollment in continuing education courses...
...Why...
...If the question of failure of the diaconate is asked in the context of the major restructuring of ministry, then the answer must be "probably...
...At all costs the errors of the past were to be avoided, particularly the pitfall of clericalism...
...for a reformed church...
...Priests ignore, discount, patronize, exploit, grudgingly accept, encourage and enthusiastically embrace the deacon...
Vol. 103 • May 1976 • No. 11
