The present day theology of the permanent diaconate is based on:

• Vatican II - "Constitution on the Church"

• Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI 6.8.66 – "Ecclesiae Sanctae".

• Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI 18.6.67 – "Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem".

• Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI 17.6.68 – "Pontificalis Romani Recognito".
• Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI 15.8.72 – "Ad Pascendum".
• General Directory "Peregrinans in terra" – 30.4.69

In recent years we have experienced great difficulty in "defining" the nature of priesthood and the religious life. The experience of priests at the Priests Assembly in 1986 is proof of this difficulty. There is always a temptation to define in terms of function. Some have tried to distinguish between function and role.

The same difficulty applies to defining the nature and purpose of the permanent diaconate.

It is interesting to note that when the bishops of the United States applied to the Holy See for permission to restore the Permanent Diaconate (2^nd May 1968) they offered the following reasons:

• to enrich and strengthen the many and various diaconal ministries at work in this country with the sacramental grace of the diaconate;

• to enlist a new group of devout and competent men in the active ministry of the church;

• to aid in extending needed liturgical and charitable services to the faithful in both large urban and small rural communities;

• to provide an official and sacramental presence of the Church in many areas of secular life, as wall as in communities within large cities and sparsely settled regions where few or no priests are available;

• to provide an impetus and source for creative adaptations of diaconal ministries to the rapidly changing needs of our society.

In the light of the Church’s documents and experience in recent years, the present day theology on the permanent diaconate may be simply expressed in this way.

THE NATURE OR ESSENCE

The first Point to be made with regard to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the diaconate, is concerned with the question of the essence of this as a permanent official state as a sacrament in the Church. In this teaching it is laid down first that the hierarchy of a state which, through subordinate, does constitute a genuine and permanent degree of the Sacrament of Orders, a visible sign or symbol, expressing service of the world, the Altar, and Charity with a special effectiveness.

The Diaconate has a genuine and essential function of its own, distinct from the order of priest. On this point the documents leave no room for doubt.

THE FUNCTION

With regard to ‘function’, or the tasks which are, in practice, attached to the order of deacon, the council documents distinguish between these various tasks in almost the same way as in its presentation of the official functions of bishops and priests. Three general functions were envisaged by Vatican II:- the function of teaching, the function of Sanctifying, and the function of leading – similar functions which apply to every official state in the hierarchy of the church.

In various documents a variety of "lists of functions" or ministries may be found. It is possible to distinguish three main areas:-

The Ministry of Love and justice

Taking up the meaning of ‘diaconia’ a being one who serves, a sign and sacrament of the Lord Jesus who ‘came not to be served, but to serve’.

Surveys, particularly in the USA indicate deacons serving and responding to the needs of the aged, the bereaved, the blind, the homeless, migrants, refugees and a whole range of the disadvantaged people who look to the church for support in their meeting injustice and discrimination.

The ministry of the Word

Especially in proclaiming the Gospel by preaching, catechetical instruction, counselling, instruction of catechumens, those preparing for baptism and marriage and various renewal programmes.

The ministry of Liturgy, and Sacrament as through sharing in the eucharistic liturgy, baptising, witnessing marriages, bringing the Viaticum to the dying, presiding over funerals and burials, presiding over liturgies of the word, exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, leading non-sacramental reconciliation services and other prayer services.