A lacuna in the theology of the permanent deacon

I just finished Tim O’Donnell’s The Deacon Icon of Christ the Servant, Minister of the Threshold, a scholarly and practical theological and pastoral reflection on the diaconate today. I am working on a review of this book which I think is a landmark in theological reflection on the diaconate, In the process of seeking some citations for the review, I came across an article that I had started in June but had not finished in response to an article in Commonweal. I decided to publish this, with a few changes, even though it is incomplete and needs more thought as well as some serious editing. But I have not changed the title, though I think O'Donnell is helping us begin to fill the lacuna.

My path to the diaconate is probably much different from that of most permanent deacons in the world.

First of all, I never thought of the diaconate until the bishop asked me to consider it over dinner one night in October 2014. Secondly, there is no formal plan for study and formation in our diocese, since I am the first permanent deacon, and so I am mostly self-taught (and the bishop had no problem with this), except for two on-line courses. 

I should also note that I was the third person ordained a permanent deacon here in Honduras. Yet, having worked in pastoral and campus ministry in the US for almost 24 years before coming to Honduras and having worked in the diocese here since 2007, I had been teaching and studying the Catholic faith for over three decades, including teaching courses on "Introduction to Catholicism" and "Catholic Social Thought" at Iowa State University.

During my discernment I devoured numerous books and documents on the diaconate.

I have been serving as a deacon in a rural parish since my ordination in July 2016; it’s a large parish with more than forty rural communities, where I was serving as a lay missionary for many years.

One further difference from most permanent deacons is that I am celibate.

Over the course of these past years, since the bishop’s invitation, I have been trying to formulate my theology and spirituality of the permanent diaconate. I am trying to write a book about my call to the diaconate and also about the role of the celibate deacon. But I thought it might be useful to share some thoughts I have been pondering a bit more widely, via my blog

I found much of the writing available very helpful, including the work of William Ditewig, Greg Kendra, James Keating, Bishop Shawn McKnight, and Michael J. Tkacik. But still something seems to be missing, especially as I look at discussions on Facebook pages, some blogs, and even articles by theologians.

My vision of the diaconate and my diaconal vocation is largely shaped by paragraph 16 of the Vatican II document on mission, Ad Gentes. As I was discerning whether God was calling me, I was taken aback when I read paragraph 16:

Where Episcopal Conferences deem it opportune, the order of the diaconate should be restored as a permanent state of life, according to the norms of the Constitution on the Church. For there are men who are actually carrying out the functions of the deacon’s office, either by preaching the Word of God as catechists, or by presiding over scattered Christian communities in the name of the pastor and the bishop, or by practicing charity in social or relief work. It will be helpful to strengthen them by that imposition of hands which has come down from the apostles, and to bind them more closely to the altar. Thus they can carry out their ministry more effectively because of the sacramental grace of the diaconate.

I was already doing not one, but all three of the ministries mentioned. I felt that what God was perhaps offering me was the grace of orders to live out this mission more fully and more ordered to the good of the People of God, in a permanent commitment. 

But a question remained: How does one “bind more closely to the altar”? 

 In our diocese in Honduras, we organize our pastoral work around what we call the Triple Ministry – prophet, priest, and king - with three ministries: prophetic, liturgical, and social.

As I see it, the deacon is ordained to live this baptismal call in a special way, with an emphasis on being the servant. For me the diaconate is trying to live as evangelizer, servant of the poor, and minister at the altar.

I am concerned about a diaconate that is seen only as another step up in ministry in the church, for married males, that is meant above all to be seen at the altar. I think this is behind some of Pope Francis’ rather sharp words to deacons.

In the June 2020 issue of Commonweal, Christopher Ruddy asked “What are deacons for?” In his article he seems to pit his understanding of the view of Pope Francis on the diaconate with a different understanding rooted in the work of John Collins. 

According to Ruddy: “Francis’s words represent a widely held view that the diaconate is about service, especially the humble service exemplified in foot-washing…” 

 He contrasts this to Collins’s analysis of the use of the word “diaconos”. In Ruddy’s words, the deacon is seen as “an ambassador or an intermediary who is commissioned by a superior authority to proclaim a message or perform a deed. The deacon’s service is thus directed primarily toward his bishop, not to the needy.”

To a degree, I agree with Ruddy’s critique of a one-dimensional view of the deacon: “This interpretation [of the deacon conceived in terms of humble, loving service] contributes to a deformation of diaconal identity and a breakdown of the necessary interdependence of his ministries of liturgy, Word, and charity-service. The deacon’s rightful and necessary place is at the altar, in the pulpit, and in the street.” 

But I think Ruddy overstates this: “It is important, then, that we recover a sense of the deacon as a herald—which is why he is the ordinary minister of the Gospel at Mass—who serves the bishop and is sent by him to proclaim the Word in various ways and places.” 

I especially find Ruddy leaning to a one-dimensional view of the diaconate, over-emphasizing the liturgical: “And although both the ‘humble service’ proponents and Collins himself tend to underemphasize or overlook it, the diaconate is also fundamentally a liturgical ministry.” 

He is much clearer when he writes: “The diaconate, in its fullness, reveals that the church’s outreach to the poor and marginalized is rooted and catalyzed most deeply in the liturgy, where the Word is proclaimed and the Sacrifice offered.” 

But what does this mean? 

In July 2020, the Vatican’s Congregation on the Clergy released an Instruction on The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelizing Mission of the Church. Significantly there is a large section on deacons. There, the deacon is seen mostly in terms of evangelization and charity. The liturgical dimension is extremely important but the key words seem to be “evangelization” and “charity.”

 

Paragraph 82 reads, in part:

the history of the diaconate recalls that it was established within the framework of a ministerial vision of the Church, as an ordained ministry at the service of the Word and of charity; this latter context includes the administration of goods. The twofold mission of the deacon is expressed in the liturgical sphere, where he is called to proclaim the Gospel and to serve at the Eucharistic table. (Italics mine.)

My question is how are we called to live, in an integrated way, these three aspects of our diaconal ministry, evangelization, worship, and service – the deacon’s ways of living out our baptismal call of all the faithful to be icons of Christ, who is prophet, priest, and servant king. How are the aspects of our ministry related? What makes it distinctly diaconal? 

I would suggest that we look at how the three ministries are related – in theology and in practice. Here is a preliminary outline of a longer discussion which obviously needs to be fleshed out, but I offer there unsystematic remarks for further discussion.

1. Service and liturgy: 

All are called to serve. 

But what is the deacon’s role? Pope Saint Paul VI, spoke of the deacon as the “animator of diakonia.”  

Since the early days of the church the deacons had a special role in caring for the poor. Note the poor as the "treasure" in the story of the deacon-martyr Lawrence. 

We also find the role of the deacon described as the eyes and ears of the bishop, especially in terms of the needs of God’s people. 

I believe that the work of Collins and others can lead to a false dichotomy – between the deacon as an intermediary or ambassador and the deacon as one who represents Christ the Servant, not just at the altar but also in humble service to the marginalized.

An ambassador is an intermediary – not just a messenger from one party to another. It’s not a one-way street. 

The deacon, from the time pf Pseudo-Clement was spoken of as “the eyes and ears of the bishop.” 

Cardinal Walter Kasper has noted that “The deacons can act as the eyes and ears of the bishop in identifying areas of need and can help him in his task of being father to the poor.” 

And Greg Kandra, in “The Catholic Deacon Today,“ noted that “He can serve as the eyes and ears for the bishop or pastor—and as a voice for the people.” 

 2. Evangelization and liturgy: 

Evangelization is what all the baptized are called to do. The bishop has a special role in the church as the teacher of the diocese. The priest, in his care of souls, is called to spread the good news to all the world. 

But the deacon?

I’d suggest that a distinctive element of the evangelization by the deacon is not reading the Gospel and preaching, but connecting the Good News of the Gospel with the lives of ordinary people. 

It is not without interest that a major breakthrough toward the reinstitution of the diaconate as a permanent way of life began at Dachau where the concern about the church’s awareness of the evil of Nazism was a real concern. 

3. Liturgy 

But what is the liturgical ministry of the deacon? 

I would suggest that it is closely connected with his connection with the poor as well as with the mission of the people of God. 

Tres munera

This idea of the integrity of the tripartite dimension of diaconal ministry seems to be missing from much of the discussion. 

What we need is a theology that really integrates the three dimensions. 

One brings the needs of the people of God, especially the poor, to the table of the Lord, and one goes out with the good news our redemption to the highways and by-ways. Because of the celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord, the sufferings of the people of God are transformed into signs of hope, which we share with all the world.

Have we taken seriously enough these three munera [the diakonia of the Word, the diakonia of the Sacrament, and the diakonia of Charity] are inseparable [not just interdependent as Ruddy says]– not because a pope or a Vatican congregation says so. They are inseparable dimensions of who we are as baptized in Christ. 

The English version of the prayer of anointing after Baptism reads: “As Christ was anointed priest, prophet, and king, so may you live always as members of his body, sharing everlasting life.” 

 The Spanish version, which I use, prays, “Les unja con el crisma de la salvación, para que se incorporen a su pueblo y sean para siempre miembros de Cristo, Sacerdote, Profeta y Rey.” 

I even checked the Latin: “ipse te linit chrísmate salutis, ut, eius aggregátus pópulo, Christi sacerdótis, prophétae et regis membrum permáneas in vitam ætérnam.” “May he anoint you with the chrism of salvation, so that, gathered together in his people, you may remain forever (to eternal life) as a member of Christ, priest, prophet, and king. of the priest, a member of the king, and stand not in the life of the prophets.” 

My translation would be, taking the Latin and the Spanish into account:

“May he anoint you with the Chrism of salvation, so that, gathered together into His people you man remain forever a member of Christ, Priest, Prophet, and King.”

Christ is prophet, priest, and servant-king; the Church is called to live this; every Christian disciple is, by baptism, a member of Christ, prophet, priest and king. 

The July 2020 Instruction noted above, can help us see this aspect of our diaconal mission. In paragraph 80 (italics added)

"The deacon is, so to say, the custodian of service in the Church. Every word must be carefully measured. You are the guardians of service in the Church: service to the Word, service to the Altar, service to the poor."

Paragraph 81 adds:

“In an audience with participants at the International Congress on the Diaconate, Paul VI reaffirmed that the deacon serves Christian communities “’n proclaiming the Word of God, in sacramental ministry and in the exercise of charity.’”

Paragraph 82 is an initial effort to relate these three dimensions.

“the history of the diaconate recalls that it was established within the framework of a ministerial vision of the Church, as an ordained ministry at the service of the Word and of charity; this latter context includes the administration of goods. The twofold mission of the deacon is expressed in the liturgical sphere, where he is called to proclaim the Gospel and to serve at the Eucharistic table. These references can help identify the specific tasks of a deacon, adding value to that which is proper to the diaconate, with a view to promoting the diaconal ministry.”

This concludes the draft I was working on last year.

Afterthought: 

 O’Donnell’s book takes the lacuna I perceived very seriously. As he notes on page 134. 

“On the functional side, the model [of Christ the Servant] reflects how Christ serves the this-worldly needs of those who suffer within a broader ministry incorporating proclamation and prayer. The model thus undergirds the foundational understanding of the diaconal tasks as integrating word, liturgy, and charity, with a center of gravity in charity."