Analysis: Permanent deacons are key to a ‘synodal missionary church’ — the synod needed them

Permanent deacons — ordained ministers, who are often married and perform essential pastoral services, are a relatively modern clerical development in the Catholic Church. It was only after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), following a gradual decline of the diaconate in the Latin Church, that Pope St. Paul VI restored the diaconate as a permanent and separate rank of ordained ministry.

Today, deacons carry out a ministry of service in local churches that often involves assisting at Mass, proclaiming the Gospel, occasionally preaching, baptizing, witnessing and blessing marriages, and visiting the sick.

Still, given the ongoing nationwide shortage of priests — in the last 50 years, the average parish size increased 60 percent, while the number of priests declined by 40 percent, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate — the deacon’s critical role in the life of the church and its mission to evangelize might seem obvious.

But the reality is that most of the world’s dioceses do not have permanent deacons as envisioned by Vatican II — in fact, the United States alone accounts for almost 21,000 of the some 50,000 permanent deacons globally in the Catholic Church today.

This, in turn, raises a question: Should the ministry of deacons have been a more prominent topic of discussion at the Synod on Synodality — the second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops — wrapping up in Rome Oct. 27?

The 60-page English version working document (called an “instrumentum laboris”) intended to guide synod participants’ discussions — mentions deacons a total of 10 times in five different paragraphs. These citations predominately address the ministry of other clerical orders, too.

“Well, it’s nice to see deacons mentioned, even in a roundabout sort of way,” said Deacon Greg Kandra, creator of the widely read blog “The Deacon’s Bench” and author of “The Busy Person’s Guide to Prayer” (Word Among Us Press). “Deacons are often an afterthought in the mind of church leadership, and I think many are still getting used to us and trying to figure out how best to use us.”

Deacon Kandra found it unfortunate that the synod working document’s authors “seem to see deacons only in relation to bishops and priests — and not in relation to the people in the pews.”

“That’s a significant oversight and gives short shrift to the most important connection, the intimate one between deacons and the people they serve,” he emphasized. “Exploring that connection and hearing from deacons what they see, hear, experience and live every day — at home, at work, in the public square — might be fruitful and revealing.”

Deacon Stephen Hilker — who serves at St. Mary Catholic Church in Williamston, Mich., and was the first graduate from the Josephinum Pontifical University Diaconate Institute in Columbus, Ohio — questioned the working document’s conclusion that “bishops, priests and deacons … have spoken of a certain fatigue, linked above all to a sense of isolation, loneliness, being cut off from healthy and sustainable relationships, and of being overwhelmed by the demand to provide answers to every need.”

“I know priests and bishops may report a sense of isolation, but I think it is rare among deacons,” Deacon Hilker observed. “However, it is worth noting that the sense of being overworked does speak to the need for alternative structures.”

The synod was called to discuss how bishops, priests and deacons relate to each other in a “synodal missionary church,” but some synod participants seemed to indicate the failure to really include a robust presence of permanent deacons capable of offering their experiences — similar to what was done with pastors earlier this year — made an impact.

“Inevitably, you have to consult deacons on the diaconate,” Deacon Geert De Cubber, the only permanent deacon at the synod, admitted Oct. 9 at a Vatican press briefing in remarks reported by Catholic News Service. The deacon also noted a vital aspect of that consultation, which is familiar to the parts of the Catholic Church that have married clergy, such as married permanent deacons: “You have to involve their wives; you have to involve their kids.”

CNS also reported that Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, made remarks to the synod Oct. 21 indicating that one of the many factors behind why Pope Francis regards “the issue of the female diaconate is not mature” is because most dioceses have not implemented the permanent diaconate, and many of those that do treat deacons as “just ordained altar boys.”

But Deacons Kandra and Hilker — as well as Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn. — who spoke to OSV News prior to the release of this synod session’s working document — spoke to the unique role, perspective and potential of permanent deacons, particularly with regard to evangelization.

“The great gift that deacons bring is the gift of presence. The gift of living among the people; working among the people,” said Deacon Kandra. “And it makes them connected with the people in the pews in a very profound way, and in a very intimate way. And it’s something that people find relatable, and recognizable.”

When they preach, a deacon’s message can be distinct.

“He evangelizes through what he has to say about his own life, and his own experience in life,” Deacon Kandra observed. “I’ve often told deacons when I’ve given retreats or when I’ve taught homiletics to deacons, that deacon homilies should sound different than homilies by priests or bishops, or anybody else. Because their experience is different; their insight is different; and what they bring to the pulpit is different. And,” he added, “it should connect with people in a very personal way.”

The estimated number of permanent deacons in active ministry was 13,718 in 2023, roughly 69 percent of all permanent deacons in the Latin Church within the U.S.

There were 587 men ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2023, and since 2014, the estimated number of ordinations averaged 613.

“What’s the need for deacons today? What are the benefits they can provide, if dioceses were to encourage more, in terms of evangelization?” asked Deacon Hilker, whose theological scholarship has focused on the authentic role of the deacon. “Not to cancel out the other functions, in terms of charitable works — but where’s the emphasis, and where’s the unmet need, and what’s the possibility to use deacons for that?”

Offering a partial answer, Deacon Hilker noted that, “Deacons are utility players, because of their broad, various backgrounds. They have an ability to function in a number of different circumstances.

“We’re not going to see every deacon be like Stephen and Philip,” he admitted, referring to two of the first seven ordained deacons as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. “But at the same time, there’s so many developing evangelistic opportunities in the church, that if there was an emphasis on, ‘Hey, that’s one of the aspects of my ministry that I don’t want to neglect’ — much can be done there.”

According to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, only 25 percent of deacons say they’re engaged in evangelization at least once a week.

“By their self-report, they’re not actively involved in evangelization. But what if they were encouraged to do so, and trained to do so?” asked Deacon Hilker. “Here’s probably one of the largest untapped resources in Catholicism in the U.S. to start to address this need for the new evangelization.”

With a foot in both the sacred and the secular, deacons can easily connect the two realms, said Bishop Caggiano.

“As clerics — as ordained ministers of the church — they are also, principally, in the secular world,” he noted. “They are the ones who have their own professions; raising families, many — therefore, in a sense, I see them as a living bridge between the pulpit and the outside world. Between the inner sanctum of the church, and the outside practice of the faith.”

For a church actively trying to connect its message to a world that increasingly ignores it, deacons just could be the missing link.

“In many ways, the church is struggling with finding effective ways to preach in the marketplace,” reflected Bishop Caggiano. “I think the deacons are a hidden treasure, already in the marketplace.”

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