By Deacon Donat Davatz, St. Paul Co-Cathedral, Saskatoon

In the Acts of the Apostles chapter 6:1-6 we learn of the communal life of the Church in Jerusalem. We see that seven disciples are appointed to serve the needy and the poor. Due to the influx of converts from the Greek-speaking diaspora living in Jerusalem, the “Twelve”, speaking only Aramaic and used to the local way of life in Judea, needed the assistance of men “full of the Spirit and of wisdom,” chosen among the better off and more educated Jews belonging to the Greek-speaking minority of the “Hellenists.”

Seven were chosen like in any municipal or corporate council in Judea. They would spread the message of the Gospel in “Hellenist” synagogues, supervise the daily distribution of food and other goods to the poor among the Greek-speaking minority of Jerusalem, and, more generally to wait on tables, take care of the financial or economic problems of that Greek-speaking community.

It can be safely argued from this text that the Church in Jerusalem found it necessary almost from the beginning to appoint those who would look after the poor. The first Christians startled the pagan world of Rome by their love and dedication to the poor, the sick, and the dispossessed. In the New Testament Jesus’ teaching and message is presented in John’s Gospel and the First Letter of John. The moral law of Christ is contained in one single word: love/agape.

The appointment of the seven servants (diakonos) functionally became the heart of diaconal ministry at the tables of the needy and at the table of the Lord.

Christ sends the Church into the world to serve and not to be served (Matt 20:28). St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, wrote that the office of deacon is nothing other than “the ministry of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before all ages and has been manifested in the final time.”

The writers of the first centuries insist on the importance of the deacons’ ministry, they give many examples of the manifold important tasks entrusted to them, and clearly show how much authority they held in the Christian communities and how great was their contribution to the apostolate. Deacons are well attested to in the New Testament and are truly servants for the whole community, bishop and presbyters. Moreover, they are described as “the bishop’s ear, mouth, heart and soul.”

“Diakonia” characterized not only the person and mission of Jesus, his words and deeds leading up to his death on the cross but it also subsequently enveloped the whole gamut of activities performed by different persons and groups within the gradually evolved structures of the ecclesial edifice.

The churches of the East (Greek Catholic, Orthodox etc.) maintained the diaconate throughout the centuries. For a variety of reasons, it declined slowly in the Western Church. By the tenth century, the diaconate as a separate order and office in the church had all but disappeared. As a result, it became simply a theoretical step on the hierarchic ladder, with individuals being obliged to stay on it for only a brief moment of the journey toward priestly ordination.

The reasons which led the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) to open the possibility of restoring the Permanent Diaconate are to be found mainly in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, and in the Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, Ad Gentes.

Pope Paul VI formally restored the permanent diaconate in 1967. On June 18, 1976, he issued the apostolic letter Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, the document that re-established the permanent diaconate for the Latin Church.

Since this notable event 48 years have passed and as “pioneers” of the restored Permanent Diaconate over 1,220 deacons have been experiencing the joys and trials of life in this ordained ministry today in Canada. Not all but most of the 70 dioceses in Canada maintain a diaconate program. The estimated number of Permanent Deacons in active ministry in the USA is at this time approximately 21,000.  There are ca. 50,000 involved in active ministry, world-wide.

At this time Permanent Deacons pursue their ministry mostly part-time and earn their living outside the Church. The Permanent Diaconate is open to married men between 35 and 60 years, and unmarried men as of 25 years. In accordance with their official title “diakonos” (servant), they ensure that the spirit of Christ’s serving love is kept alive and practised in the communities.

The focus of their service is on accompanying people in their everyday lives, in the proclamation of the Gospel and in the celebration of the liturgy. They care for sick and elderly people and those who are disadvantaged or in mental and physical distress. They accompany individual groups in the parishes, help with preparation for the sacraments, preach in church services and instruct people in the faith.  Moreover, they perform baptisms, marriages and church funerals, as well as lead devotions and services of the word.

The formation process of the future deacon is demanding. The candidate once selected, will begin a four-year program of formation and discernment. If he is married, it is necessary that his wife and family wholeheartedly support his desire to proceed towards ordination as a deacon. He must have the consent of his wife to be ordained since she will share in the sacrifices of his ministry and help him to carry out his service to the Church.

Deacons are men who share in Holy Orders because the Church ordains their ministry which the community had made necessary. In the person of the deacon, there is a public witness present who, for the universal (Catholic) Church, is involved in the three dimensions of diaconal service: Ministry of Love and Justice, Ministry of the Word of God, and Ministry within the Liturgy. These are so central to our faith that without deacons, priests and bishops, we would fail to be the Church founded by Jesus Christ.

A deacon is no different from any other man, he is simply a person who has been called by God to assist the priests and bishop in making present today the very ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate allows a deacon to participate in the ministry of service of the Church as Jesus Christ is proclaimed in the Kingdom of God.

The most meaningful and significant contribution of Christianity to the history of humanity can be summed up in one simple word – namely service (diakonia). The mission and ministry of Jesus, its unbroken continuity by his disciples and followers, both male and female, would be empty and hollow without the fire and fervor of diakonia.

With the recent ordination of Paul Wheeler (who died on May 28, 2024), and Nicholas Blom to tge Sacred Order of Deacons by our Bishop Mark A. Hagemoen, the Permanent Diaconate has been officially promulgated in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.  Permanent Deacons that have been serving so far in the diocese of Saskatoon were ordained in other dioceses.

St. Ignatius of Antioch said: “Let everyone revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, the bishop as the image of the Father, and the presbyters as the senate of God and the assembly of the Apostles. For without them one cannot speak of the Church” (CCC 1554).

Now, go in peace … to love and serve the Lord.

Permanent Diaconate in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon: LINK

-30-