12 facts about deacons, who should be revered like Jesus Christ

On the occasion of the feast of San Lorenzo, patron saint of deacons, this August 10, we share 12 facts about these important servants, who have received the sacrament of orders, and which continue to increase on the 5 continents, even with married members.

1.- From the Apostles

The Royal Spanish Academy points out that the word deacon comes from late Latin diacŏnuswhich in turn derives from the Greek deacon (diakonos), to refer to the servant or servant.

In the Acts of the Apostles It is narrated that the Twelve laid their hands on “seven men of good repute” to be in charge of “serving the tables.”

In the list the names of Saint Stephen the protomartyr and of Saint Philip (the one who baptized the Ethiopian), considered by tradition as deacons. But the biblical text does not mention that they are.

The Diocese of Fort Worth He highlights, however, that “the Church has always interpreted the selection of the ‘seven’” as “the beginning of the origin of the diaconate.”

2.- Requirements to be deacons

The Apostle Saint Paul, in his First Letter to Timothynotes that “deacons should be respectable men, of one word, moderate in the use of wine and enemies of dishonest gain. May they preserve the mystery of faith with a pure conscience.”

He Code of Canon Law (CIC) indicates that the candidate for the diaconate must have previously received and exercised the ministries of lector and acolyte. He must deliver to the Bishop or Superior a declaration expressing his free and firm decision to live this vocation, requesting to be admitted. He has to do spiritual exercises before his ordination.

3.- Functions of the deacon

The Light of the Gentiles (LG), dogmatic constitution on the Church, describes that the deacon can “solemnly administer baptism, reserve and distribute the Eucharist, attend the marriage and bless it in the name of the Church.”

In addition, he may be entrusted with “bringing viaticum to the dying, reading the Holy Scripture to the faithful, instructing and exhorting the people, presiding over the worship and prayer of the faithful, administering sacramentals, presiding over the rite of funerals and burial.” ”.

4.- Third degree of the Sacrament of Orders

He Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “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 Orders.”

The LG specifies that deacons are in “the lowest degree of the Hierarchy” and receive the laying on of hands “not in order to the priesthood, but in order to the ministry.”

This doctrine is so old that Saint Ignatius of Antioch (approx. 30-107 AD), disciple of Saint Paul and consecrated bishop by Peter, said: “Let everyone revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, as well as the bishop, who is the image of the Father, and the priests as the senate of God and the assembly of the apostles: without them we cannot speak of the Church.”

5.- Transitional and permanent deacons

The CIC refers to the transitional and permanent diaconate. The first refers to deacons who aspire to the priesthood and who receive this degree as a transition. While permanent deacons are those who decide to live this vocation for life.

Those who go to the priesthood can receive the diaconate after turning 23 years old. Between the diaconate and priestly ordination there must be a minimum period of six months.

The candidate for the permanent diaconate may be admitted to the diaconal order with 25 years of age, if he is single, and 35 years, if he is married but with the consent of his wife.

Permanent single deacons, before their ordination, must publicly assume who will maintain the obligation of celibacy.

In the event that the wife of a permanent deacon dies, he will not be able to remarry because the CIC stipulates that “invalidly attempt marriage those who have received sacred orders.”

6.- Restored with the Second Vatican Council

In the past there were permanent deacons, but over time only the figure of the transitional deacon remained. With the Second Vatican Council, permanent deacons (single and married) were reestablished, as indicates the LG.

In this regard, Pope Francis, in a 2021 address to permanent deacons of Rome, emphasized that “the diaconate, which in the previous conception was reduced to an order of passage to the priesthood, thus recovers its place and its specificity.”

7.- They can receive a salary to support themselves and their families

He CIC states that “married deacons fully dedicated to ecclesiastical ministry deserve such compensation that they can support themselves and their families.”

However, it clarifies that if they receive a salary for working or having worked in a civilian profession, they must support themselves and their families “with what they earn for that title.”

8.- The Diakonia

According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the diakonia It was the “district and term” in which the churches were previously organized “for the relief of the poor” and which was responsible for a deacon. This term was also used to refer to the deacon’s house.

Pope Francis at the meeting with the permanent deacons of Rome, in 2021, he expressed his joy because in the diocese “the ancient custom of entrusting a church to a deacon so that it becomes a diakonia” was resumed.

Therefore he greeted the married deacon Andrea Sartorito whom the parish of Saint Stanislaus was entrusted.

9.- Deacons at Mass

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal establishes that “the deacon’s proper vestment is the dalmatic, which he wears over the alb and the stole.” But he specifies that Dalmatian It can be omitted if necessary or “for a lesser degree of solemnity.” The cingulum (belt) is not necessary either. if the dawn adapts well to your body.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops presents various functions that the deacon performs during Mass such as proclaiming the Gospel, distributing Communion and dismissing the people saying: “You may go in peace.”

10.- Deacons are on the rise

Vatican News, the official news service of the Vatican, notes in an article April 2024 “some basic aspects of the Catholic Church between 2021 and 2022”. There he presents that the number of permanent deacons continues to increase.

“The number of deacons increases, in 2022, by 2% compared to the previous year, going from 49,176 to 50,150 units. The figure is improving on all continents at a significant rate,” highlights.

Issues in debate about the diaconate

11.- Its sacramentality

In 2002 the International Theological Commission published a document entitled The diaconate: evolution and perspectivesapproved by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation (today Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith, and later Pope Benedict XVI.

The text presents that there is a doctrinal line which comes from Durando de San Porciano (+1334), Dominican theologian, in which it is stated that priestly ordination is “sacrament”, while other orders, such as the diaconate, are only “sacramental”, sacred signs with which the faithful “are prepared to receive the main effect of the sacraments.”

About the Second Vatican Council mention that “there was no unanimity” on the sacramental nature of the diaconate.” “If Vatican II spoke with caution and ex oblique (sideways) of the sacramental nature of the diaconate, was due not only to the desire not to condemn anyone, but rather to the doctrinal uncertainty highlights.

Nevertheless, indica that there is a large majority of theologians who are in favor of the sacramentality of the diaconate. But duck that this “constitutes an integral element of a large part of the proposals favorable to the diaconate for women.”

“Considering the diaconate as a sacramental reality constitutes the safest doctrine and most coherent with ecclesial praxis,” reaffirms the document of the International Theological Commission.

12.- The deaconesses

In the Letter to the Romans Sister Phoebe is spoken of as “deaconess of the Church of Cenchreae.” Here the Apostle Saint Paul asks that they welcome her in the Lord and help her. The document of the International Theological Commission you understand that in that context the word deacon was used “in a very general sense”, only as a servant.

Nevertheless, from the 3rd century The figure and service of the deaconess began to gain more notoriety, such as helping in the baptism of women, until it began to disappear from the ecclesiastical sphere.

Las Apostolic Constitutions from the 4th century they indicated: “The deaconess does not bless and does nothing of what priests and deacons are supposed to do, but she guards the doors and assists the priests in the baptism of women for the sake of decency.”

Although the topic of the female diaconate does not appear in the Work tool 2 of the Synod of Synodality, the second phase of which will be held in October of this year, Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, said in press conference on July 9 that Pope Francis has asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) to study women’s participation and leadership in the Catholic Church, including the possibility of women deacons, to publish a document on the subject.

Shortly before, in an interview with the American network CBS News in May 2024, the Pope manifested that the possibility of a female diaconate “with sacred orders” was “not” open.

Before commissioning the DDF, Pope Francis had created two commissions for the study of deaconesses in the Catholic Church: one in 2016; that was closed without reaching a consensus; and the second in 2020; after the majority of participants in the Amazon Synod, held in 2019, expressed themselves in favor of the topic.

In Dear AmazonPope Francis’ apostolic exhortation following the synod, the Pope encourages women to participate in the Church but not in the ordained ministries of the diaconate or priesthood.