DeCember 3, 1993 The Message -- for Catholics of Southwestern Indiana
w,
.S. bishops' message on permanent diaconate
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops took a prelimi-
70° Nov. 15 ata document thanking the more than
• .o, permanent deacons for their service to the
Church during the past 25 years.
The gratitude was contained in a brief statement marking
the 25th anniversary of the restoration of the permanent dia-
COnate in the United States. Introduced Nov. 15, it was to be
v0d 0n.by the bishops Nov. 17.
opt Paul VI restored the er
United ,- - p manent diaconate in the
bishopsAt.es on Aug. 30, 1968, at the request of the U.S.
and near' the beginning of 1993, there were 10,324 deacons
. JY 2,000 candidates There ar n " d 8,000
enaanen, J • e _ estimate 1 .
ueacons worldwide.
In early 1994, the bis '
!acoaate plans to ,_..:.hops Comm,ttee.on the Permanent
verraane, j. -g=n a two-year national stuay el the
" maconate. "'For the first time, there will be h n
Vision of who the deacon is in the life of the churc ,
Taub, a permanent deacon and executive direc-
tt for the Permanent Diaconate.
,t Speaker
of Catholic Charities speaks about self-esteem to
at Holy Family School, Jasper.
Box 68 • Montgomery, Indiana 47558
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Phone: 486-3285
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WASHINGTON (CNS) --
Here is the text of the U.S. bish-
ops' message for the 25th an-
niversary of the restoration of
the permanent diaconate in the
United States. It was approved
by the bishops Nov. 17 in
Washington.
Twenty-five years ago, on
Aug. 30, 1968, Pope Paul VI re-
sponded favorably to the re-
quest of the National Confer-
ence of Catholic Bishops to
restore the permanent dia-
conate in the United States.
In our May 2nd letter to the
Holy Father that year, we gave
the following reasons as the
basis for our request:
1. The many and varied dia-
conal ministries already pre-
sent in our country would be
enriched and strengthened by
the sacramental grace of holy
orders.
2. A new group of devout and
competent men would be en-
listed in the active ministry of
the church.
3. Charitable and liturgical
services would be extended in
both rural and urban commu-
nities.
4. The official and sacramen-
tal presence of the church
would be provided in communi-
ties where priests were not
readily available.
5. The permanent diaconate
would provide an impetus for
conal ministries in our rapidly
changing society.
As we look back on these
past 25 years we see that our
hopes and dreams for the per-
manent diaconate are being
happily and providentially ful-
filled.
The establishment of the
permanent diaconate has pro-
gressed rapidly. At the begin-
ning of 1993 there were 10,324
deacons and nearly 2,000 men
in formation in the United
States. Of the 185 Latin-rite
dioceses of our country, 145
have formation programs for
permanent deacons.
During his 1987 pastoral
visit to the church in our coun-
try, Pope John Paul II spoke
enthusiastically about our dea-
cons, declaring that they "'rep-
resent a great and visible sign
of the working of the Holy
Spirit in the wake of the Sec-
ond Vatican Council." He went
on to say: "'With the whole
church, I give thanks to God
for the call you have received
and for your gracious response.
For the majority of you who
are married this response has
been made possible by the love
and support and collaboration
of your wives .... It is above all
the call to service that I wish
to celebrate with you."
We echo the sentiments ex-
pressed by the Holy Father
seven years ago by thanking
erously responded to God's call
to serve the church. We also
express our gratitude to the
wives and family members of
our permanent deacons who
have supported them in their
ministry through their love
and with many personal sacri-
fices.
On this 25th anniversary of
the restoration of the ancient
yet new permanent diaconate,
we call on the members of our
church to celebrate the gift of
the diaconate. We pledge our-
selves to work with our dea-
cons to foster an even greater
understanding and apprecia-
tion of their vocation and min-
istry within the church. We en-
courage those dioceses in the
United States which have not
as yet established the perma-
nent diaconate to consider the
opportunities this ministry
may provide for furthering the
mission of the church.
Echoing the prayer of conse-
cration from the Rite of Ordi-
nation of Deacons, we pray
that the Lord will continue to
look with favor on those who
have been called to the office of
deacon that they nmy carry out
faithfully their ministry of the
word, of the altar and of char-
ity in obedience and fidelity so
that God, who has begun this
good work in them, will bring
creative adaptations of dia- our deacons who have so gen- it to fulfillment.
'A family name you
can trust"
424"9274,,,,
li, AB
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bers, places, dates, offices, direc-
tors, parishes, schools, institutions,
vital statistics, financial statistics,
priests' assignments they are all
in the 1994 Yearbook of the Catholic
Diocese of Evansville.
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