Dear Fr. Kerper What Is a Lay Deacon?

your questions answered by a local pastor Dear Fr. Kerper What is a lay deacon?

Dear Father Kerper: My parish now has a lay nent order, thereby recovering the deacon who has taken over some of the work once diversity of ordained ministries done only by our priest. He baptizes babies and present at the church’s origins. even gives the homily at Mass sometimes. I under- As such, deacons are not “half- stand that things can change in the church, but how priests” or “vested laity” who fi ll can priests suddenly be replaced by lay deacons? ministerial gaps. Rather, the visible presence of deacons in parish life his is an excellent question, and certainly shows forth the variety of distinc- one whose time has come. There is no tive ordained ministries working such thing as a “lay deacon.” In recent together in the body of Christ. years, the Catholic bishops of the United The Diocese of Manchester has TStates have ordained more than 15,000 men to just begun a process to expand the permanent diaconate. About 25 serve in New the order of deacons within New Hampshire. Hampshire. The following docu- Though permanent deacons seem new, the order ment explains our vision of the of deacons is one of the church’s oldest institutions. diaconate. Notice that I use the term “order of deacons.” The — Father Michael Kerper is the pastor of If you would like to ask Father Kerper a word “order” means that a particular group within Corpus Christi Parish in Portsmouth. question, please e-mail [email protected]. the church has a sacred origin and is an essential part of the church’s permanent structure. Men be- come deacons through ordination – “being ordered” Who is a permanent deacon and what does he do? – by the bishop. As such, all deacons are members The Identity and Ministry of the Permanent Deacon of the clergy, along with bishops and priests. In Acts 6:1-6, St. Luke describes how the ll members of the Catholic Church are called to Apostles themselves established the diaconate, a share their gifts as Christ did. By virtue of baptism, term derived from the Greek word diakonos, mean- each and every member of the Catholic Church ing domestic service. In fact, waiting on tables was enjoys new life in Christ, a sharing in His divine life. the original task of deacons. As the church devel- AIn light of this participation, all the baptized share in His mission oped, deacons became the offi cial dispensers of and priesthood – to sanctify, to teach, to guide, that is, to minister charity. We see this most clearly in the story of Saint to others, according to the gifts each has received. Lawrence, the Roman deacon who outraged the Ministry is a tapestry. We need all the threads to appreciate emperor by giving the goods of the church to the the richness and diversity of the whole, and each of these poor, rather than the state. threads is woven together in Christ. We are a diocese that While service has always been the deacon’s pri- encourages all ministries, lay and ordained, for the building up mary ministry, tradition indicates that deacons were of the Body of Christ. also ministers of word and sacrament. For example, God calls some men through the Church to ordained ministry: Saint Stephen, deacon and fi rst martyr, preached bishops, priests, and deacons. Bishops and priests are ordained to publicly. And tradition shows that deacons distrib- the ministerial priesthood; deacons are ordained for a ministry of uted the precious blood at Mass. Today, deacons can service. All receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders. also baptize, serve as the church’s offi cial witness at Thus, the deacon is an ordained minister of the Church. He is weddings, and offer blessings. neither a layman nor a priest. The deacon is a cleric ordained for Deacons appear to be “new” because, for many the service of God’s people in communion with the bishop and centuries, the priesthood embodied all forms of of- his body of priests. He works collaboratively with bishops, priests, fi cial ministry. The distinctiveness and diversity of the and existing staff members of a parish or institution. They work triple form of ordained ministry – bishop, priest, and together to build up the Body of Christ. deacon – became virtually invisible. Then the Second All ordained ministers in the Church are called to serve Vatican Council restored the diaconate as a perma-

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