Fr. Louis Bulletin Letter - September 4, 2005 - The Permanent Diaconate
The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium (28) teaches us that the “the divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times have been called bishops, priests, and deacons.” “There are two degrees of ministerial participation in the priesthood of Christ: the episcopacy and the presbyterate. The diaconate is intended to help and serve them . . . The degrees of priestly participation (episcopate and presbyterate) and the degree of service (diaconate) are all three conferred by a sacramental act called ‘ordination,’ that is, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1554). Congratulations to Gary Glodowski whom Bishop Listecki has accepted into the formation program to become a permanent deacon in our Diocese of La Crosse. Gary recently graduated from the diocesan Lay Formation Institute as well as the Leader of Prayer program. This fall he begins his formation for the diaconate which will culminate, God willing, in his ordination as a deacon in 2010. With regard to deacons, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that they “share in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (‘character’) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the ‘deacon’ or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity” (1570).
Over the centuries, the Church “generated the norm of conferring the priesthood only on those who have already received the diaconate and exercised it appropriately” (Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons, 3). Thus, as a man preparing for the priesthood, I was ordained a transitional deacon at the Basilica of Saint Peter, Vatican City State, on April 6, 1989. On the other hand, the permanent diaconate – to which Gary aspires – is, as the name implies, a stable state that does not terminate in priestly ordination. This permanent diaconate can be conferred on married men and has always been maintained by the Churches of the East. It was the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) that restored the permanent diaconate “as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, 29) in the Latin Church.
Let us pray for Gary and for all those men from around our Diocese who have discerned that God may be calling them to service as deacons.
Saint Peter, pray for us!