Tuesday Conference: To Make Humanity United in Worshipping God

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Tuesday Conference
Theology e-magazine
To make humanity united in worshipping God
Christ the Deacon
Our Heavenly Patron
Tuesday Conference r eaches you an ar ticle on

theology of diaconate and the debate surrounding it. The need for
Deacons diminished as time passed with Catholicism becoming
the official religion of Rome, there became more and more priests
and religious. Consequently, the Diaconate as a distinct
Sacrament of Orders essentially became inactive in the Latin
Church for some 1,000 years. The Diaconate became more of a
transitional step on the way to priesthood. However, the Eastern
Church continued the tradition of the Permanent Diaconate.
There are theologians who argue that the Church should
consider abandoning the transitional diaconate as a sacramental
prerequisite to presbyteral ordination.
Deacons are the father of the orphans and the poor.
They are to be outstanding not only in the service of
the holy mysteries, but also in the distribution of
ecclesiastical goods.
Page - 02
Pius XII in the constitution Sacrementum Ordinis in

1947 refers to diaconate as the sacrament of order
instituted by Christ our Lord.
Introduction
In the
16th c. the
Council of
Trent
directed
that the
permanent
diaconate
should be
restored to
the Latin
Church but
this
After the 5th c. there was a steady decline in the

permanent diaconate in the Latin Church. From the early
Middle Ages the diaconate remained only as a traditional order
that men received as part of their preparation for ordination to
the sacred priesthood. There were occasional exceptions to this
rule, Saint Francis of Assisi, for example, was ordained a deacon
but not a priest. The reality was that the permanent character of
this Order was abandoned by the Latin Church for many
centuries.
Tradition of the Church
The impressive testimony of tradition from the time of St
Irenaeus and Tertullian approves them as deacons. From the
earlier time onwards the liturgical prayers carry this import,
In the ordination of Roman pontifical closes with prayer;

may they be worthy to belong to the degree of those whom
apostles,..chose to the number of seven, with the blessed
Stephen as their head.
directive
Also in the liturgy of the Byzantine rite, we invoke the
was not
example of St Stephen the first deacon.

According to St Ambrose the deacon St. Lawrence, reproaches
his bishop for not taking with him his deacon, to whom he had
entrusted the consecration of the blood of the Savior.
carried into
effect.
Some facts: The United States currently leads the world with about 18,000
deacons, more than 15,000 of whom are in active ministry. By contrast, Poland did
not ordain its first permanent deacon until 2003, and India not until 2006. Many
countries have only one or two deacons.
On June 18, 1967, the 2nd Vatican Council restored the permanent Diaconate
(Apostolic Letter Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem) in the Latin Church. The Diaconate
was restored to give fullness and depth to the ordained ministry and official Church
presence in the business world.
Page - 03
The term that

was used to
describe
Stephen and
the others
selected was
the Greek
word
diacona,
which is
translated as
servant or
minister.
Biblical Foundation
Two passages in St Pauls letter refer to the deacons in close
connection with the bishops.
1. The Philippians (1:1) begins as follows Paul and timothy the
servant of Jesus Christwith their pastors and deacons
2. The first letter to Timothy (3:8-12) Deacons in the same way
must be men of decent of behavoiur
3. An incident in the Acts (6:1-6) is usually considered to be the
account of the institution of the diaconate.
This account by itself
would certainly not be
enough to prove that
deacons in the present
meaning of the word
were chosen and
ordained on that
occasion.
The Sacrament of the Diaconate

If ordination to the diaconate is a true sacramental rite, as Catholic
theologians all agree, it must confer a special sacramental grace. If the sacrament
of order in its higher degrees makes men representatives, signs or sacraments of
Christ the priest, the diaconate will be ordained to represent Christ in the Church.
The
texts
which
demonstrate
this
aspect
of
the
subject
are
innumerable; St Ignatius of Antioch bids the faith ful of Magnesia

honour the deacons as Jesus Christ, for it is the diaknoina of Christ which has been
entrusted to them.
Christ is the deacon, the messenger of the
Father, it is to make himself the servant, the
deacon, of the man whom he comes to save.
Jesus recalls to the apostles, his own example
as deacon: the greatest and the youngest of all,
between him who commands ands him who
serves (literally who fulfills the office of
deacon).
Chief Functions of the Deacons
Page - 04
1. The Service at the Tables

The Apostolic Constitution records
them visiting the sick,

distributing to them and the widows.
The Syriac Didascalia says
he receives the gifts of the community ,

and hands them over to the bishop,
who is in his turn must distribute them to the poor,

he has the duty of welcoming, looking after strangers who join them.
he is the bishops heart in doing the works of mercy for the poor, the
sick and the needy.
We see them at work in St Ignatius of Antiochs Letter to the Trallians (2.3) and
notably in the Shepherd of Hermes, who severely condemns the deacons who
have abused their services, who have plundered the widows and orphans , who
have kept for themselves the goods which they had received for
distribution(Simitudes IX. 26.2)
Though
the deacon
was not
ordained
to
priesthood
. He must
be
respected,
says St
2. The Liturgical Services

The deacons part in the Eucharistic service is already hinted
in Didache (15.1) and in the Letter to Trallians by St Ignatius of
Antioch and described St Justin in his First Apology.
assists the bishop or the priest when he celebrates the

Eucharist.
to prepare the Eucharistic table & distributing of the Eucharist.

it is he who brings the oblations, the offerings received from the
faithful,
Ignatius
keeping proper order in the liturgical ceremonies,
like the
leading the prayer of the faithful;
law of
God.
In the Roman high Mass the deacon pronounces with the

offertory prayer: We offer you, Lord, the chalice of salvation.
Page - 05
3.The Herald of the Gospel

To the functions of the deacon already mentioned a third was added, the
public reading of the gospel.
A deacon Philio, seconds Ignatius of Antioch in the ministry of the word,

Cyprian tells deacons to teach and to exhort the Christian people,
Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytusinstruct whose who are present at
assembly.
For Stephen and Philip devoted themselves to an apostolate of the word,
accompanied by wonders and exorcisms.
4. The Service of the Priesthood

The functions of the deacon can be summoned up in a single sentence from
the Apostolic Tradition: the deacon is not ordained to the priesthood, but for the
service of the bishop, to do as the latter bids him. (c.9)
In the letters of Ignatius of Antioch the deacons are always, mentioned in close
connection with their bishop, deacons act as messengers and in general,
regular intermediaries between the Bishop and the faithful (Philad 10. 1).
Theirs is a devoted task, a position of confidence as is stated by the

Constitution of the Egyptian Church and
by the Testament Our Lord, the deacon exercise as well a sort of control over
public morals, accompanies the bishop on his many official tours.
He is even charge of official missions of delicate nature: St Gregory sends the

deacon Castoursi to inquire into conduct of bishops and priests.
The 3rd canon of the Council of Vaison (442) tells us that there was at time at
least a deacon and a sub deacon in each country which entrusted to a priest.
The Epistola Canonica (6 th c. )prescribed in its eighth canon that there should
be a deacon with the local priest wherever there are churches with baptismal
fonts.
All these functions naturally put the deacons very much in the
public eye and could even give the impression that their
ministry was more important than that of simple priests.
Page - 06
The deacon, when serving at the altar or when serving the Christian
community represents once more Christ himself , the angel or

messenger of the father.
The Decadence of the Diaconate

We have seen that the deacon had a very important position in the early
centuries of the Church. Often too the bishops successor was chosen from among
the deacons and during the vacancy it was the archdeacon who acted as the
administrator. Again the deacons had predominated influence in the Councils of
the Church;
Athanasius was still only a deacon when he assisted at the council of Nicea and
played a leading part in it;
Hilary too, whom Leo the grate sent as his legate to the Council of Ephesus in
449 and who succeeded him on the throne of St Peter.
Pope Pelagius II send the future Gregory the Great, while still a deacon, as his
ambassador to Constantinople.
As late as the 11 century Hildebrand is only archdeacon of the Church of Rome

when he is sent as ambassador to the Emperor. When St Gregory X (1271-76)
was elected pope he was not yet a priest but only deacon, archdeacon of Liege.
Since the Mass could not be celebrated without a deacon, the priest of a
parish, however small needed his presence. The introduction and general
adoption of private Masses, in the west, made people feel that the
diaconate, as a permanent office, had lost its justification.
Biblical Meaning of Diakonia.
The recent scholarship regarding the biblical meaning of diakonia pose some
serious challenges. In the New Testament, diakonia never referred to humble
service, to what we might call acts of Christian charity. The tendency to
think of diakonia as a kind of Christian social work crept into Christianity by way
of early 20th century German biblical scholarship.
The root meaning of diakonia lies, not in humble service, but rather
in ones having been sent or commissioned to fulfill the work or mandate
of another. In this sense diakonia must be distinguished from ordinary
Christian service to which all are called as followers of Christ.
Inadequate Approaches to Diaconate
Page - 07
1. The Diaconate as Pastoral Internship for the Presbyterate: At

least from a canonical perspective, it is required, two different diaconates, one
permanent and one transitional, with two different sets of canonical rights and
obligations. It is a situation that has served only to perpetuate a confused theology
of the diaconate. The reasons for this are many.
1. the ancient tradition in no way presupposed that one must advance from one
ordained ministry to the next.
2. the existence of a transitional diaconate risks denigrating diaconal ministry by
reducing it to a kind of pastoral internship or field education assignment.
3. although seminarians clearly benefit from a pastoral internship that includes
preaching and limited sacramental/liturgical ministry, there is no reason that
these ministries could not be delegated to seminarians by their bishop without
diaconal ordination.
2. The Deacon as Icon of Christ the Servant: A second th eological deadend attempts to develop a theology of the diaconate on the basis of the distinctive
ministries and/or functions proper to the deacon.
1. it is a weak theology that tries to ground any ministry in a purely functional
description of what a minister does. Ministry is not just about what one does, but
the character of ones relationship within the body of Christ.
2. the view of the deacon as icon of Christ the Servant can obscure the ways in which
both the presbyter and bishop are no less called to lives of humble service than is
the deacon.
3. Identifying the Distinctiveness of the Deacon in the Clerical State:
It should be remembered that diaconal ordination did not always mark the
entry into the clerical state. For much of the second millennium, one became a
cleric at tonsure not at diaconal ordination.
An adequate theology of the diaconate today must meet 4

essential criteria:
1) it must do justice to the tradition of the Church regarding the historical ministry
of the diaconate, 2) it must explain why the diaconate is properly an ordained
ministry, 3) it must distinguish the ordained ministry of the deacon from that of the
presbyter and bishop, 4) it must distinguish the ministry of the deacon from the
ministry of the lay ecclesial minister without in anyway denigrating the importance
of lay ecclesial ministry.
Editor: Tony Maliyekal VC
Published from Vincentian Vidyabhavan, Aluva.

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V o l.

To make humanity united in worshipping God

Christ the Deacon

Our Heavenly Patron

Tuesday Conference r eaches you an ar ticle on

Pius XII in the constitution Sacrementum Ordinis in

After the 5th c. there was a steady decline in the

In the ordination of Roman pontifical closes with prayer;

Also in the liturgy of the Byzantine rite, we invoke the

example of St Stephen the first deacon.

The term that

The Sacrament of the Diaconate

innumerable; St Ignatius of Antioch bids the faith ful of Magnesia

Chief Functions of the Deacons

1. The Service at the Tables

them visiting the sick,

he receives the gifts of the community ,

who is in his turn must distribute them to the poor,

2. The Liturgical Services

assists the bishop or the priest when he celebrates the

to prepare the Eucharistic table & distributing of the Eucharist.

keeping proper order in the liturgical ceremonies,

leading the prayer of the faithful;

In the Roman high Mass the deacon pronounces with the

3.The Herald of the Gospel

A deacon Philio, seconds Ignatius of Antioch in the ministry of the word,

4. The Service of the Priesthood

Theirs is a devoted task, a position of confidence as is stated by the

He is even charge of official missions of delicate nature: St Gregory sends the

community represents once more Christ himself , the angel or

The Decadence of the Diaconate

As late as the 11 century Hildebrand is only archdeacon of the Church of Rome

Inadequate Approaches to Diaconate

1. The Diaconate as Pastoral Internship for the Presbyterate: At

An adequate theology of the diaconate today must meet 4

Published from Vincentian Vidyabhavan, Aluva.

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