Ministry of Love and Justice | Ministry of the Word | Ministry of the Altar
What is a Deacon?
Part I: The Ministry of Love and Justice
Deacons were an important part of the early Church. From the
foundation of the order of deacon (Acts 6:1-6) those ordained
to this order had the special role of caring for the poor and
outcast and reminding the members of the Church to do the same.
The word “deacon” comes from the Greek diakonia,
which means “service.” So vital was this ministry
of charity that deacons were entrusted with all the worldly
assets of the Church so they could distribute them as necessary
to the needy.
By the end of the first millennium, the order of deacons had died out in the Western Church. Ordination to the diaconate became a step along the road to priestly ordination, along with other ancient roles such as lector and acolyte. There are many interesting theories as to why this happened, which we do not need to go into here, but it is notable that the Eastern Church retained the permanent diaconate all through its history. Some still lived the life of a deacon, such as St. Francis of Assisi, who after his ordination as a deacon declined to be ordained a priest, and lived as a deacon for the rest of his life. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) ordered the restoration of the diaconate, but this decree was never implemented.
The restoration of the permanent diaconate by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was the result of extensive theological and pastoral dialogue, originating primarily in Germany, on the need to emphasize the servant role of the Church. The leaders of this movement were a group of priests who developed their thoughts while imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. For decades they championed the restoration of the diaconate as necessary for the full life of the Church. Based on the extensive historical and theological work on the order of deacon prompted by the witness of these priests, the Council decided to restore the permanent diaconate.
While the bishop is an icon of Christ the shepherd and the priest is an icon of Christ the priest, the deacon is an icon of Christ the servant. The deacon must seek out the poor and outcast in the community. He ministers to their needs and brings them to the Christian community for continued care. To ensure that the faith community is disposed to welcome the outcast, the deacon is called to remind the faithful of their Christian responsibility to service and justice and to assist them in carrying out this responsibility.
The deacon ensures that the Church community is a welcoming place for all. By personal service among those on the margins of society, the deacon becomes intimately familiar with their needs as he is intimately familiar with the Christian community. Thus, he lives in two worlds, seeking to bridge the gap between the comfortable and those in need of comfort. To those whom society deems less-than—the poor, the immigrant, the imprisoned, gays and lesbians, the divorced and remarried, and all those alienated from society and the Church for whatever reason—the deacon brings the compassion of the Church, and to the Church community he presents these for whom God has a special love and asks the community to welcome them.
The deacon is the voice of the Church to the marginalized, and the voice of the marginalized to the Church.
Ministry of Love and Justice | Ministry of the Word | Ministry of the Altar
