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LETTER OF COMMENDATIONMessage from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy O’Connor

EDITORIAL2 The Diaconate come of age

Ashley Beck and Tony Schmitz

THEOLOGY OF THE DIACONATE4 The Sacramentality of the Diaconate

Didier Gonneaud

18 Learning about the DiaconateJohn Collins

MINISTRY OF THE WORD22 Whatever became of the Diakonia of the Word?

Bart Koet

32 Lectio Divina and the ParishSeán Murphy

MINISTRY OF CARITAS36 The Pastoral Challenge of Migration

Richard Steenvoorde

REVIEWS46 What should Deacons read?

Ashley Beck

52 Partners in Solidarity Ashley Beck

DOCUMENTATION53 The Diaconate: Perspectives on its development

International Theological CommissionTony Schmitz

FORTHCOMING EVENTS58 Heythrop study day,

IDC study conference in Vienna (2009), National Assembly of Deacons in Herefordshire(2010), IDCNEC conference in Ushaw (2011)

Issue 1 November 2008

research institute for the permanent dia-conate, organising major study confer-ences and publishing the journal DiakoniaChristi; in recent years local IDC networkshave been established in various parts ofthe world to further the centre’s work andincrease the support which can be given tothose involved in diaconal ministry. A pri-marily Anglophone circle for NorthernEurope has now been set up, and the pub-lication of this journal will be at the centreof our work; we also aim to organise regu-lar theological conferences, the first ofwhich is planned for 2011.

The journal will aim to support people at dif-ferent levels. First, we want to provideEnglish translations of significant articlesbeing written elsewhere on the diaconate,and this first issue contains two important

pieces translated from French and German.But we are not simply an academic journal:we also want to share material about thepastoral ministry of deacons and othersinvolved in diaconal ministry, to share goodpractice and open up people’s understand-ing of diaconal work. The Catholic Churchis an international community, and learningabout the diaconate enables us to see theways in which the diaconate has developedin different parts of Europe.

This initiative happens at a significanttime for the diaconate in northernEurope. Every diocese in England andWales except the diocese of Salford, andevery diocese in Scotland, has nowrestored the permanent diaconate, and inmany places (such as Ireland) this form ofministry is now being restored after manyyears of reflection and preparation; inother places, such as Scandinavia andsome of the Baltic states, deacons areministering within small but rapidlychanging Catholic communities. In addi-tion we are offering a resource for laypeo-ple and religious engaged in a more gen-eral diaconal ministry in the life of theChurch. We hope to reflect all these excit-ing developments in the pages of thisreview: above all, we want to celebratewhat has become an integral and indis-pensable part of the Church’s life.

We are fortunate to have entered a part-nership for publication with an establishedjournal in England and Wales, ThePastoral Review (formerly The ClergyReview and Priests and People). This jour-nal has been an important resource for theChurch since 1931 – and in particular inthe last few years has stimulated a livelydebate about the nature of the deacon’sministry of charity. The IDC NorthEuropean Circle is pleased to be linked toThe Pastoral Review and we are gratefulfor the support we have been given by itspublisher Ignatius Kusiak and its editorMichael Hayes. �

In ancient Rome, a young man, iuvenis,was a man below the age of forty years;

indeed this concept was reflected in thepre-1983 Code of Canon Law, which stip-ulated that priests under the age of fortywere considered too young to hear theconfessions of female religious. Just overforty years ago Pope Paul VI restored thepermanent diaconate in the Latin Church,so in a sense the permanent diaconate hascome of age. In most parts of the CatholicChurch it has become a clearly recognisedpart of the ordained and public ministry ofthe Church; numbers of permanent dea-cons are growing in most places wheretheir ministry is established, and more andmore dioceses and regions are restoringthe diaconate.

As is often remarked the Church thinks incenturies, which means that in spite ofthis coming of age it is still ‘early days’; thisis reflected in a certain lack of clarity aboutthe theological underpinning of the dia-conate. The strength of this has been thatdeacons can carry out their ministry withflexibility; the weakness is as an institutionwe can look as if we are making it up as wego along. There has been, as a result, a vig-orous debate about many aspects of thediaconate which is likely to continue; wecan also identify significant differences ofemphasis between different countries andeven dioceses.

What has been lacking has been anEnglish-language journal outside theUnited States dedicated to the permanentdiaconate. For many years the Inter-national Diaconate Centre (IDC/IDZ),based in the diocese of Stuttgart-Rottenburg, has been the worldwide

Published in November and May each year by: International Diaconate Centre-North European Circle (IDC-NEC)Ogilvie Institute, 16 Huntly Street,Aberdeen, AB10 1SH, Scotland.Tel: 01224 638675(from outside UK: 00 44 1224 638675)A Charitable Company Registered in England In association with The Pastoral Review,The Tablet Publishing Company Ltd, 1 King Street Cloisters, Clifton Walk,London, W6 0GY, UK.Board of the IDCNECTony Schmitz (Chair), Ashley Beck, John Traynor, Nelleke Wijngaards-Serrarens, Rob Mascini (President of the IDC), Wim Tobé, Paul Wennekes, Ans Klunder, Göran FäldtEditorsTony Schmitz and Ashley BeckE-mail: [email protected]

or: [email protected] are welcome from readers.Please send material to the editors at thee-mail addresses above. For style detailsplease consult the website of The Pastoral Reviewwww.thepastoralreview.org/style.shtml.Editorial BoardThe Revd Dr Michael Hayes (England)Editorial consultantsRevd Professor Bart Koet (Netherlands), The Revd Dr William Ditewig (USA) Dr John Collins (Australia)Designer James Chasteauneuf© The Tablet Publishing Company Limited ISSN (see subsequent issues of NDR)Subscriptions and membership of IDCNEC1 year - £15 / 20 eurosUK: Ogilvie Institute, 16 Huntly Street,Aberdeen AB10 1SH Euro zone & European Economic Sphere:Scandinavia and the Baltic States: Communicantes, Kannunik Faberstraat 7, 6525 TPNijmegen, Netherlands Post Bank, The Hague, NetherlandsIBAN: NL 10PSTB0002257912 SWIFTcode: PSTBN21

eviewRNewDIACONAL

Ashley Beck and Tony Schmitz

The Diaconate come of age

New Diaconal Review Issue 1 3New Diaconal Review Issue 12

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We are not simply anacademic journal: we alsowant to share material aboutgood practice and open uppeople’s understanding ofdiaconal work

Until Vatican II our understanding ofthe sacramentality of the sacrament of

Order, to put things as simply as possible,was centred on the ordination of priests.The seven degrees of the sacrament ofOrder (doorkeeper, lector, acolyte, exorcist,subdeacon, deacon, priest) were under-stood, in the Latin tradition, as progressiveparticipations in and preparations for thepriesthood. The way in which the ‘pres-byter’ exercised a sacerdotal ministry wasdirectly connected to the consecration ofthe Eucharist; there never has been, in theCatholic tradition, the slightest doubtabout its sacramentality. Presbyteral ordi-nation cannot pass on the power to conse-crate the Eucharist without it fully being asacramental ordination. So from this per-spective, the sacramentality of the dia-conate was absorbed by that of the priest-hood, and the diaconal degree would notpose any specific question in relation tothe other degrees which prepared a manfor the priesthood. The diaconate was thelast degree, that which rendered a clericimmediately ready to become a priest. Theonly subject of controversy on the subjectof the diaconate was centred not on itssacramentality, but on its manner of insti-tution: did the diaconal order derivedirectly from Christ, or was its institutionmediated, set forth by Christ through theapostles, in the episode of the choosing bythe Twelve of the Seven in Acts chapter 6?

What this means is that the Council wouldwish us to consider not so much the dia-conate as the episcopate: how can wethink of its sacramentality alongside that ofthe presbyter? We notice that the number

and by addition: a deacon was a priestdenuded of certain powers, the bishop wasa priest made greater with certain juridicalpowers. It is this equilibrium, somewhatstatic, which was shifted by Vatican II,because now it is necessary to think simul-taneously of the unity and diversity of thesacrament of order, and it is here that aseries of new questions are posed aboutthe diaconate.

I Diversity and Unity of theSacrament of Order

This theoretical problem of how we articu-late the unity and diversity of the sacra-ment of order can be broken down into anumber of concrete questions. For exam-ple, there is the question of the formationof deacons. If we focus on the unity of thesacrament of order, we are likely to seeformation of deacons, to start with, as acopy, an adaptation, of the formation ofpriests. We put together again the essentialelements of the formation of priests andthen we redistribute them in a manneradapted to the fact that deacons can’tspend normally long and testing years in aseminary! Or again, if we insist more onhow different the diaconate is at this sameinterior level, we will be led to emphasisethe difference in formation: for a distinc-tive form of ministry there should be a dis-tinctive type of formation, and it is not aquestion simply of reproducing artificiallyfor deacons what is done for priests. Onepoint where this question must be a sensi-tive area is the place of wives in formation:the more that formation is thought to belike a copy of that given to priests, themore it will be difficult or even impossibleto take account of the specific needs offormation for wives. They will be tolerated,

but they will not truly be jointly responsiblefor their formation.

Another question is that of the ordinationof women to the diaconate. This questionis not definitely settled, and it remainsalways a matter open to discussion. Again,if we insist on the unity of the sacramentof order it is impossible for us to open upfor the diaconate that which is impossiblefor the two other ministries: to ordainwomen to the diaconate is to shatter thevisible unity of the sacrament of order: itwould place a big gulf between deacons onthe one hand and priests and bishops onthe other. Again, to bestow some value onthe originality of deacons’ ministry, ratherthan see it solely as a diminished form ofthe presbyterate and the episcopate, allowsus again to envisage seriously ordainingwomen. We could make for the diaconatesomething which would be valuable solelyfor itself.

The anxiety about the unity of the sacra-mentality of ordained ministries explainswhy the difficult discussions about it atVatican II were not focussed on the dia-conate in itself, or on the specific nature ofits ministry and its sacramental character,but were very quickly concentrated on apreoccupation which had become moreand more animated: what happens when one ordains married men to the diaconate?

When we read the interventions of theCouncil fathers, we can see how the ques-tion progressed so that early on the coun-cil did not have the advantage of theologi-cal reflection on the theology of the dia-conate. We can surely make an exception

seven, very symbolic and marking the full-ness of the sacrament of order, comes toan end with the presbyterate: the sevendegrees of the sacrament of order reach aclimax with the ordination of the pres-byter, and not with the ordination of thebishop: is episcopal consecration a repeti-tion, one that is more solemn, of the ordi-nation of a presbyter, fundamentally trans-mitting the same priesthood, withouttherefore a new sacramental degree? Is ita development of powers already receivedin presbyteral ordination, but which con-tinue to be ‘tied up’, until they are ‘untied’by episcopal ordination? Or, rather, is itreally episcopal ordination which is a newthing alongside presbyteral ordination?

Vatican II determined in its teaching thatthe episcopacy is not a development of a

juridical kind of the powers alreadyreceived in ordination to the presbyterate,but that it passes on sacramentally thecharism of apostolicity. The ministerialtheology which comes from the Councilfinds itself in this way facing a new situa-tion, which is a little complicated: so far asthe whole of the sacrament of order wascentred on the priesthood of the presbyter,itself focussed on the consecration of theEucharist. Its unity was very homogenous.We could define this unity by subtraction

Didier Gonneaud


Now it is necessary to thinksimultaneously of the unityand diversity of thesacrament of order

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Didier Gonneaud is a priest of theArchdiocese of Dijon and a Professor inthe Theology faculty of the University ofLyons. In this article he explores the waysin which the Church’s thinking hasdeveloped about the sacramentality ofthe diaconate.

The Sacramentality of theDiaconal ministry

the problem of sacramentality has allowedus to give a better place to what deacons’wives have to say, while the questionswhich have been left on one side – aboutthe compatibility between the states of life– could straightaway put them in an awk-ward position.. At the end of the session in2001, it was easy to perceive the develop-ment in thinking: this session would onlyhave been able to call itself not ‘diaconateand marriage’ but rather ‘marriage anddiaconate.’

Could we then study fully the sacramen-tality of the diaconate without putting itback in the whole context of Christiansacramentality? I hope that I have notretraced the problem too much while lim-iting myself, as a result, to the sacramen-tality of the diaconate – which has auniqueness in terms of the working of thesacrament of Order all over the world.

II The Deacon of the Bishop, or The Deacon of Christ the Servant?

According to the more traditional terms ofreference of Latin theology, to say that thediaconate is a sacrament signifies thatthere is a direct link between the deaconand Christ. The notion of a sacrament wasborn in the gradual discovery of a perma-nent character which is direct in the linkwhich exists, so as a result the link withthe minister of the sacrament is indirectand secondary. This is what explains defi-nitely St Augustine’s formula with regardto baptism: ‘When Peter baptises, it isChrist who baptises; when Paul baptises, itis Christ who baptises; when Judas baptis-es, it is Christ who baptises.’ (In Jo. Tract.6.18, PL 35. 1428).

But the Council’s insistence on the full-ness of the episcopate created some hesi-tation over this. In fact, Vatican II placedgreat value on the figure of the bishop, sothat the figure of the priest seemed even tolose a little of its profile, above all in com-

same session organised in Lyons, onecould measure the path that we havemapped out: this was not at all the com-parison between two states of life, to seetheir compatibility consequently with thediaconate. We could move away from thesacrament of marriage, to ask ourselvesabout that which we bring: the fact of mar-riage which is lived for deacons. I recallhow requirements were laid down con-cerning wives of deacons at the time of thefirst documents about the diaconate. InMay 1968, the bishops of France promul-gated their first norms relating to the re-establishment of the permanent dia-conate. These norms developed the guide-lines of section 11 of Paul VI’s motu pro-prio (Sacrum diaconatus ordinem, 18

June 1967): “The life of the spouse, likethat – eventually – of the children, will bethat which should not create ‘an obstacleto the ministry of the deacon, nor should itdishonour it” (no. 11). Well on the con-trary, in the estimation of what is possible,the spouse will love to bring positive sup-port to her husband’s ministry, in accor-dance with the promotion of the positionof women in the modern world.” We canevaluate how far these questions havematured in a more sacramental perspec-tive: the experience of couples whose hus-band is a deacon has become sufficientlyconsistent for us to ask ourselves what it isthat the sacrament of the diaconate canbring to the practical theology of the sacra-ment of marriage. How is the sacrament ofmarriage illuminated inwardly by theexperience of couples where the husbandis a deacon? This thorough investigation of

for the interventions of Cardinal Suenens:during the consideration of the veryremarkable request which he put beforethe council at the time of its preliminaryconsultations, he drew out a coherent the-ology of the diaconal ministry. But readingthe total array of interventions from mem-bers of the council shows that, wheneverthey spoke about the diaconate, the bish-ops, speaking in fact about other thingswere really speaking about priestly celiba-cy: could the Latin Church ordain marriedmen deacons without setting back indi-rectly the question of priestly celibacy?Within the unity of the sacrament ofOrder, how far can the difference gobetween the different ministries?

Thus determined, and indeed preoccu-pied by the question of celibacy, the sacra-mental character of the diaconate couldnot be developed fully for itself, so much sothat it was not explicitly affirmed. LumenGentium and Ad Gentes repeat theambiguous expression of ‘sacramentalgrace’1, which leads certain theologians tothink that the question is again open, andthat we can have a complete theology ofthe diaconate which does not consider it tobe a sacrament. Therefore I will put for-ward several reflections:

� What is it that we understand by thesacramentality of the diaconate? As muchas the Council was able to give sufficientlyprecise teaching with regard to the sacra-mentality of the episcopate, it remains justas vague with regard to the diaconate: sowhat propositions can we put forward toenable us to understand the diaconate’ssacramentality?

� Is the manner in which the Councilproceeded with reference to the episco-pate’s sacramentality perhaps illuminatingon the subject of the diaconate?

Therefore I should define carefully thelimitations of this article, which leads to

the question of the sacramentality of thediaconate in the carrying out of its min-istry: what is the sacramentality which isdistinctive for the diaconal ministry? Soonce again the question centres on theoriginality of this ministry with regard tothe sacramentality of baptism and confir-mation: is diaconal ministry something weshould think about first as being in thepathway of baptismal mission, or rather isit a pathway from its sacramental origin?In France, the diaconate was born aftervigorous reflection on the apostolate oflaypeople, and we needed time to valueproperly this originality of the diaconate; atthe same time it was necessary to insistingon its basis, which is not a simple exten-sion of the baptismal apostolate, but rathera specific sacramentality of the wholeordained ministry.

This ministerial perspective means that Iam leaving to one side a particularly stim-ulating point: the connection between thesacramentality of the diaconate and thesacramentality of marriage. With an inter-val of twelve years between them, the

National Council of French Deaconsorganised two sessions on ‘The Diaconateand Marriage’. The first took place in1989, and it dwelt in part on the frame-work of questions inherited from theCouncil: how to reconcile the diaconateand marriage? We could move away fromthe diaconate and ask ourselves how thespecific demands of the state of diaconallife could be harmonised with conjugaland family life. In July 2001, after the


The Sacramentality of the Diaconal ministry – Didier GonneaudThe Sacramentality of the Diaconal ministry – Didier Gonneaud

In France, the diaconate wasborn after vigorous reflectionon the apostolate of laypeople,and we needed time to valueproperly this originality of thediaconate

... as a result the linkwith the minister of thesacrament is indirectand secondary T

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Christ the Shepherd.. The TheologicalCommission’s text does not hesitate to crit-icise this expression, including the pointup to which it was used in the official doc-uments of the Holy See: ‘There is no doubtthat we are here before a way of speakingabout the specific identity of the deaconwhich offers some novelties in agreementwith that which was the custom up tillnow: the deacon has a specific configura-tion to Christ, Lord and Saviour, to whichcorresponds a spirituality marked by the‘notion of service’ (serviabilite) insofar asit is a distinctive sign which makes thedeacon, by virtue of his ordination, a living‘icon’ of Christ the Servant in the Church.In this way is justified the restriction to

priests of the configuration with Christ,Head and Shepherd. But the configura-tion with Christ ‘the Servant’ and ‘service’as characteristic of ordained ministry isalso valid for priests. In such fashion thatone does not see very well that is ‘specifi-cally diaconal’ in this service.’3

After this difficulty with regard to the the-ology of ministries, it is in fact aChristological question all the more deli-cate as it has some important inter-reli-gious stakes. Perhaps to say that Christ isin a proper sense ‘Servant’, in the sense ofa deep identity which is also definitive andnot only one of a transitory function, wasleft by its historic mission? In the fourthgospel, Christ appeared at the GoodShepherd in a sense which was absolute,definitive, and – one could almost say –eschatological: also well in agreement with

the account that in the Kingdom, Christhas for function and identity that of beingShepherd resembling in his unity all ofhumanity. But perhaps to say the samething of service, without risking betraying adecisive originality about Christianity, isthis fundamentally a religion not of serviceor of obedience, but rather a religion oflove and communion? One certain infla-tion of the discussion about the service hasto be without doubt to be re-evaluated atthe time when engagement with Islamasks us to be particularly precise about thissubject. What would Christ, freely andwith love, have assumed in history both forthe salvation of the human race as anexample of service which led him all theway to the cross, – is it that this signifies asmuch that he is a servant, without his rad-ical identity?

III What Configuration?With these questions arising from the the-ology of the ministries and that ofChristology, there is certainly an uncer-tainty remaining with regard to sacramen-tal theology. Surely there is bound to be acertain amount of disquiet in the face of somany sacramental configurations, as if itwere necessary to have many images todefine properly the sacramentality whichis proper to the diaconate? There arealready difficulties in being specific aboutthe character of Confirmation in line withthe character of Baptism: how, then, canwe be particular about the sacrament ofOrder in relation to three distinctive char-acteristics? How can we establish an indi-vidual identity in real terms, not simplymetaphorically, for the configuration toChrist the Head (with a further subdivi-sion likening the episcopate to Christ theShepherd and the priesthood to Christ thePriest), that is a configuration of the dea-con to Christ the Servant?4

So we need again to recall from first prin-ciples this splitting up of characters andconfigurations, and, on this point, the

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parison with the position it had been givenby the Council of Trent. Is this putting theepiscopate first simply a question of mov-ing the curser along the slide-rule, as if,after ministerial theology had been cen-tred on the priest, it was now enough fromnow on to replace the centre with another,concentrating ministries no longer on thepriest but on the bishop?

We have seen in the introduction that thisis not the whole interpretation of the senseof Vatican II’s teaching: it is about thinkingsimultaneously in the sacrament of Orderof its unity and diversity, and about notabsorbing everything in a central figure,whether it is that of the bishop or thepriest. So this would have to make it advis-able to define the sacramentality of thediaconate as a participation in the sacra-mental fullness of the episcopate.

So we need to work out well in whichsense we can talk of the deacon as ‘thedeacon of the bishop’; strictly speaking,this expression is as incongruous as it is tospeak of the priest who is the ‘priest of the

bishop’. The deacon is not deacon of thebishop because he is fundamentally thedeacon of Christ – that is the meaning ofthe sacramentality of the diaconate. Thislets us understand why the ancient formu-la ‘not for the priesthood by for the min-istry of the bishop’ has progressively seenthe disappearance of the genitive ‘of thebishop.’2 At the time when this formulawas quoted in Lumen Gentium, anyrecourse (le renvoi) to the original sources

would brought about a recovery of the gen-itive, and this would have been only to tonedown rather a small part of a functionalformula like a doctrinal sentence whichwas absolute. Why then did the Councilnot re-establish the phrase ‘of the bishop’?We can only guess that the formula wasknown not directly from the sources, butrather because it was mentioned in therubrics of the Roman Pontifical, whichpassed it down while leaving out all refer-ence to the bishop. But, beyond these cir-cumstantial reasons we see above all howthat to define too much the deacon by hisparticipation in the bishop’s ministry coulddiminish the diaconate’s sacramentality.Traditional teaching reminds us on thispoint that the bishop plays a totally instru-mental role by virtue of this sacramentali-ty: he is neither the source nor the foun-dation of it, but the instrument.

Therefore if this is not the right way to lookat its participation in the fullness of epis-copacy which we must define as its sacra-mentality, how should we characterise it?The classic expression characterises thedeacon as a configuration of Christ theServant. The sacramentality of the dia-conate consists of the transmission of acharacter which would bring an identifica-tion of the deacon with Christ the Servant,something given meaning particularly bythe gesture of the washing of feet: this ges-ture actually had the effect really of annex-ing diaconal spirituality, just as the dia-logue between Jesus and his mother at thefoot of the cross (John 19: 26-27) couldalso be seen to have been annexed bypriestly spirituality. I would like thereforeto pause a little at this expression ‘charac-ter configured to Christ the Servant’.

First of all, as the International Theologi-cal Commission emphasises it, this expres-sion can make us perplexed if it is aboutcharacterising the deacon, even if it meansno longer differentiating the priest or thebishop as configured to Christ the Head or

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The Sacramentality of the Diaconal ministry – Didier Gonneaud The Sacramentality of the Diaconal ministry – Didier Gonneaud

The deacon is not deacon ofthe bishop because he isfundamentally the deacon ofChrist – that is the meaningof the sacramentality of thediaconate

Is this fundamentally areligion not of service orof obedience, but rathera religion of love andcommunion? T

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Vatican II on the subject of the episco-pate’s proper sacramentality: a wish of toconclude the programme which Vatican Ihad initially fixed, while looking in turn atthe episcopate and the papal primacy; amore sacramental vision in the way thatprecedence of the sacraments and prece-dence of the Church was articulated; a willto recover, in the Catholic tradition, theelements which correspond to the teach-ing and practice of the East; biblical andpatristic resources, while meeting theLatin experience with regard to Scriptureand the tradition of the Fathers; and aninstitutional balancing between papal cen-tralism and episcopal collegiality. But,more than these factors, it seems to methat the decisive perspective is the valueplaced by the Council on the objectivity ofthe bishop’s responsibility. The startingpoint of Vatican II, is its reflection on thebishop’s responsibility, defined a unity ofthree munera (to preach the Gospel, tosanctify and lead the community). Thesacramentality of the episcopate is not astarting point, but rather it is a conse-quence flowing from the very nature of the

bishop’s responsibility. So it is not withregard to itself that the episcopate is sacra-mental, but as a function of its final end,which is to exercise pastoral responsibilitydefined by the indissoluble unity of thethree munera. Without doubt we should

not exaggerate this doctrine of the threemunera: it furnished a coherent environ-ment to think about the bishop’s responsi-bility – in turn, both its unity and its com-plexity. Some other ways of thinking aboutit are undoubtedly conceivable.7 But,whatever poles could be distinguished, theessential thing is to think about the bish-op’s responsibility both in terms of its unityand its complexity, and not to break it upby setting aside the munus of government.Even if the environment in which VaticanII proposed its teaching can be looked atagain, the teaching’s sense is clear: thefunctions which defined the bishop’sresponsibility as pastoral could not bemixed up, and would need to be recoveredwhile retaining their unity. The precisepoint on which this teaching was from nowon separated from the Catholic tradition isthat this unity is intrinsically sacramental.

Reflection on the indivisible character ofthe bishop’s objective responsibility ledVatican II to get over the juxtapositionbetween ordination and jurisdiction: themunera of the bishop’s responsibility werepassed on completely as his ordination tothe episcopate, which is under this head-ing a true sacrament. The jurisdictioncame to determine the field in which thisresponsibility is exercised, it does not setup this responsibility itself. So we cannotseparate, in the episcopate, the sanctifica-tion and the preaching on the one hand,which would be handed on in ordination,and, on the other hand, the power of gov-ernance which would be delegated in thejurisdiction: while hardening itself, a cer-tain juxtaposition would ruin the deepunity of the bishop’s responsibility, unitywhich is its raison d’être, the ultimate endof the sacramentality of the episcopate.

If this hypothesis of re-reading Vatican II isfair, it brings with it two consequences.First, it places a value on the primacy ofobjective responsibility: that is, what weshould move away from to understand the


The Sacramentality of the Diaconal ministry – Didier Gonneaud

teaching of St Thomas can clarify things.When he reflected on the connectionbetween sacramental character andChrist, St Thomas made a character ineffect of the priesthood of Christ. That isthis priesthood which is about towards allthe sacraments which communicate acharacter. But Thomas’ language is partic-ularly precise: towards his priesthood, it isdirectly towards Christ that the characterconfigures. St Thomas does not say that acharacter would configure to Christ thePriest, but always that the character is ineffect of the priesthood of Christ configur-ing precisely to Christ.5

In all the sacraments which confer a char-acter, it makes a mark, therefore, not of aresemblance with the face of Christ, butrather to Christ himself. The only distinc-tions which St Thomas puts forward occa-sionally do not concern aspects of Christ’sidentity (priest, head, servant, or shep-herd….) but rather events in the life ofChrist, the ‘mysteries’ in the exact sensewhich he gives to this term, like efficacyproper to the identity of Christ consideringhow he made it or suffered for us.

If we diversify the characters while rear-ranging them on the diverse identities ofChrist we run the risk of falling into a sortof closed circuit, as if everything in the endwere made light of between Christ andhim who receives the character, as if thedeacon were constituted directly in hisidentity by an immediate symmetrybetween himself and Christ the Servant.

But for St Thomas the diversity of sacra-mental characters does not come from adiversity of identities or from functions ofChrist, but rather it proceeds dynamicallyfrom what the character is like in the end.The character does not have its end initself but it is always instrumental forsomething else (which leads St Thomas tomake of the character a sacramentum etres: the character is an effect with regardto a visible sign, but this effect is not final,it is instrumental with regard to an ulti-mate finality, a res which constitutes thesacrament’s raison d’etre). The more cor-rect interpretation of the texts of StThomas seems to indicate that the diversi-ty of characters is not taken from the sideof Christ: according to this point of view,there is not a single configuration. It takesitself from the final purpose of the charac-ter: in what way is the baptised person, theconfirmed person, the deacon, the priest,the bishop configured to Christ himself?

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In spite of its slightly arid nature, this briefreview of the nature of the term ‘charac-ter’ in St Thomas sweeps away the terrain:no more is it about asking ourselves whatconfiguration particular to Christ isdefined for the deacon, but rather of ask-ing about the proper final end which char-acterises, as a ministry, the configurationof the deacon to Christ. The perspectiveswhich have been developed more general-ly by Vatican II seem to allow a hypotheti-cal solution to this question.

IV Hypothetical Reflections from Vatican II

To answer this question, I am proposing anhypothetical reflection from Vatican II:what is it that leads Lumen Gentium tomake plain so solemnly the sacramentalityof the episcopate? Across the deeper ideasof this symbolism about the episcopate,what elements are evident to help usunderstand in the end the diaconate’ssacramentality?

Several factors converge in this teaching of



In all the sacraments whichconfer a character, it makesa mark, therefore, not of aresemblance with the face ofChrist, but rather to Christhimself

It is not with regard to itselfthat the episcopate issacramental, but as a functionof its final end, which is toexercise pastoral responsibilitydefined by the indissolubleunity of the three munera (topreach the Gospel, to sanctifyand lead the community)

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that part of the diaconal order which is notcollegial in structure8. Therefore if wedevelop the sacramentality of the dia-conate by starting from the structure ofthe diaconal ordo, we notice first a verymarked difference between episcopate/presbyterate on the one hand, and dia-conate on the other: deacons are notcalled to form a college, which moreoverraises difficult questions with regard totheir proper way of life in terms of beingunited and being represented inside theChurch. But this flexibility characteriseson this occasion the order of deacons andtheir ministry: they are not responsible for

the three munera together, but can exer-cise their ministry by putting in an order ofpriority one or other of the three munera.Such is the distinction which seems to meto hint at the division between the threemunera exercised together by priests andbishops, and the group of three ‘Word,Liturgy, Charity’ which recurs for deacons.

It is there that the relation comes aboutwhich is specific between the deacon andthe bishop: we have noted above the diffi-culty in understanding the sacramentalityof the diaconate as a participation in thefullness of the episcopacy, which is a per-spective which risks diminishing the directrelationship between the deacon andChrist. In fact, the sacramentality of thediaconate is written into the sacramentali-ty which belongs to the local Church.9 Theuniversal Church does not exist in isola-

tion from the particular Church: the visi-bility of the particular Church is the sacra-ment which makes visible and gives effica-cy to the universal Church, which in thesame way has no visibility other than thisparticular way of being made concrete.The Council emphasises this role of thebishop in the visibility which the diocesegives to the universal Church: ‘A diocese isa part of the people of God centred on abishop, which he should feed with the helpof his body of priests. Bound to their shep-herd and gathered by him in the Spirit,thanks to the Gospel and the Eucharist, itconstitutes a particular Church in which istruly present and effective the Church ofChrist, one, holy, Catholic and apostolic.’(Christus Dominus 11).

So it is that the particular Church is a localChurch, rooted in a place, which maketrue within itself the diaconal ministry’sown sacramentality.10

Therefore the role of the bishop is todecide, by showing the full ‘local’ charac-ter of his particular Church, which munusa deacon should carry out in his ministry,in the heart of the diaconal ordo. While thepresbyteral ordo is immediately destinedfor the integrated and indivisible exerciseof the three munera, the diaconal ordo,just as it is not a college, would appear tobe destined to fulfil rather some or othermunus, according to the decisions takenby the bishop. It is of no consequence toplace in relief one munus to the exclusionof the other two, which is perhaps whathappens if there is a temptation to havesome kind of specialised diaconal ministry,which could consecrate to itself such adeacon uniquely to this or that aspect of itsmission. It is the whole sacrament ofOrder which is destined to the array of thethree munera, but rather it reverts to thebishop and to the presbyterium to work outhow the unity of the three should be, forthe Church to be truly the Church ofChrist, the deacons show this same unity



sacramentality of a ministry. Then, withregard to the responsibility which is to beexercised, this sacramentality loses all sig-nificance, and it falls back again into ster-ile comparisons between states of life, withthe risk of forgetting the link between min-istry and community. Finally, this re-read-ing makes coherent the sacramental placebetween the sacramentality of the episco-pate and the collegiality of the episcopalbody. That which is sacramental, this is theordo to which ordination allows entry: thesacramentality of the episcopacy, that isthe sacramentality of an ordo into whichone cannot enter except through ordina-tion. So this perspective does not dependprimarily on the individual receiving ordi-nation, but on the ordo into which it issacramentally joined.

V How is the Deacon configured sacramentally to Christ himself?

Do these perspectives have merit only forthe episcopate, and, by analogy, for thepresbyerate, or are they clear as well forthe diaconate? I think that it is exactlyhere that trying to work this out makeslight of both similarities and differenceswithin the sacrament of Order.

As for the episcopate, a thoughtful theolo-gy of understanding the sacramentality ofthe diaconate has to start with the diaconalordo, and not be centred on the individualstatus of the minister: what is first in thelife of the Church is the order of deacons.Because this order is sacramental bynature, one cannot become a deaconexcept by sacramental ordination. The rai-son d’être, the final destination of thissacramentality of the diaconal ordo there-fore has to be rediscovered by starting fromthe deacon’s specific pastoral responsibili-ty, but we find ourselves here up againsttwo difficulties.

First, if the link between the objectivity ofthe three munera and the sacramentality

of episcopal ordination cuts across theproper structure of the episcopal ordo, dowe then have to understand the samemodel for the diaconal ordo? Does thisordo form a college modelled on the col-lege formed by the episcopate, and, byanalogy, by the presbyterium? On theother hand, are the three munera identi-cally carried out by each of the three min-istries which make up together the uniquesacrament of Order?

These questions are raised because of theclean break which the Council seems tointroduce between the pastoral responsi-bility, explicitly centred on the threemunera, and the job of the deacon. Ineffect, the texts of Vatican II do not recov-er directly for deacons the doctrine of thethree munera: they do not say that thedeacon’s job consists of announcing theGospel, making holy and leading the com-munity, but rather they elaborate a triplediakonia of Word, Liturgy and Charity.Would the Council have wanted to sepa-rate in its content the deacon’s job and thejob conferred on bishops and priests?

Surely the Council wanted to hint more ata difference of structure, which separateson the one hand the order of deacons and,on the other hand, the sacerdotal order ofpriests and bishops. The teaching of theCouncil on episcopal collegiality is accom-panied by a revaluation (as yet in embry-onic form, sadly) of the presbyterium, witha collegiality analogous to that of the epis-copate. By contrast, this teaching matches



The texts of Vatican II do not saythat the deacon’s job consists ofannouncing the Gospel, makingholy and leading the community,but rather they elaborate a triplediakonia of Word, Liturgy andCharity

The role of the bishop is to decide, by showing thefull ‘local’ character of hisparticular Church, whichmunus a deacon shouldcarry out in his ministry T

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is not only for strategic reasons, more orless superfluous as a result of the crisis inpriesthood, which risks making more andmore complicated the reception of the dia-conate in our communities. In fact this isbecause there exists within the diaconate afullness which is proper to it: a fullnesswhich precedes and carries the originalsacramentality of the priesthood, a fullnesswhich therefore calls forth for itself the vis-ible existence of the diaconal ordo in theheart of the local Church.

Translated by Ashley Beck, with assistancefrom Alexandra Hobson.

This article was published originally in theRevue Théologique de Louvain 36(2005), pp. 3-20, and this translationappears with the permission of the editori-al team of the journal and the author. �

1 Lumen Gentium 29a: ‘Fortified bysacramental grace (gratia sacramentaliroborati)’; Ad Gentes 16g: ‘By means ofsacramental grace (per gratiam sacramen-talem)

2 The expression ‘ordained not for thepriesthood, but for the ministry of bishop(ordinetur non ad sacerdotium, sed administerium episcopi) is found in theConstitutions of the Egyptian Church (cf.F. X. Funk, Didascalia et constitutionsapostoloum, vol. II, Paderborn, 1905, p.102) and in the Apostolic Tradition (cf.Hippolytus of Rome, Apostolic Tradition,ed. B. Botte [coll. Sources chrétiennes, 11bis], Paris, Cerf, 1968, p.59

3 Cf. Documentation catholique, n .2284, 19 January 2003, p. 82/b

4 If we take the opportunity to speculateabout the configuration to Christ theServant alongside the configuration toChrist the Head, we need to recall that, in

the scriptures, the metaphor of Christ theHead is applied to ministries not in thesense of an authority descending fromChrist over his Body, but rather, on theother hand, in the sense of an ascendingrelationship, one of growth of the Bodytowards the Head. Firstly the ministries donot have the mark of exercising authorityfrom the Head towards the Body, and thishas fundamentally ecumenical implica-tions. In an explicitly ministerial context,the text of Ephesians 4:15-16 invites usapply in this sense this image of the Head:‘If we live by the truth and in love, we shallgrow completely into Christ, who is thehead by whom the whole Body is fitted andjoined together, every joint adding its ownstrength, for each individual part to workaccording to its function. So the bodygrows until it has built itself up in love.’How do we render coherently this giftfrom the scriptures with a configuration toChrist the Servant, which becomes con-tradictory if it operates in a manner whichis a representation of descending service,through the deacon, exercised by Christtowards his Body?

5 ‘Sacramental characters, which arenever other than being in some way par-ticipations in the priesthood of Christ, [are]participations derived from Christ him-self.’ (Sacramentales characteres, qui nihilaliud sunt quam quaedam participationessacerdoti Christi, ab ipso Christoderivatae, ST III.63.3, Resp.)

6 It is this question which the teachingmost in agreement with Thomas on thesubject of the sacramental character posesthis question: ‘In the proper sense, thecharacter is a kind of distinctive mark, bywhich each person is designated, likeordained towards a certain end (Characterproprie est signaculum quoddam quo aliq-uid insignitur, ut ordinandum in aliquemfinem), ST III.63.3, Resp ‘By the character,each person is distinguished from oneanother by comparison with a certain end



starting with one of the three. This canexplain that, in the order of the munusreceived, a deacon should be able to exer-cise legitimately an hierarchical responsi-bility with regard to a priest, or even agroup of priests. This does not signify thatthis responsibility, well defined, exercisesitself under the form of a pastoral authori-ty: only the presbyterium can ensure withthe bishop the visible unity of the threemunera, a unity which defines the pastoralresponsibility such as this.

Conclusion: The Diaconate,‘Ministerial’ Fullness of theSacrament of Order?

This state of being which is the deacon’sown, and the flexibility of the charge whichhe receives when it is compared to theintrinsic pastoral charge tied to the unityof the three munera, seems to be definedas a sort of ministerial fullness . If the epis-copate can be characterised as fullness ofthe sacrament of order, by reason of itstransmission of the charism of apostolicity,this fullness is preceded by the ministerialfullness of the diaconate. One couldexplore in this sense the maxim whichqualifies the order of the deacon as ‘notwith a view to priesthood, but with a viewto ministry’: it would then be like two polesin the sacrament of order, one pole ofpriestly fullness realised by the episcopate(and, by analogy, by the priesthood), andanother pole of ministerial fullnessrealised by the diaconate.

Two elements in the tradition allow us toconclude in getting our bearings right inthis direction of the diaconate’s sacramen-tality. The first element, practically univer-sal in space and time, is the liturgical tra-dition which makes ordination to the dia-conate precede priestly ordination (to thepresbyterate or the episcopate). The possi-bility of passing directly from the diaconateto the episcopate even shows the wholeweight of this usage which has the effect of

basing priestly ordination on diaconal ordination, as if the fullness of the diaconalministry were structured only for the exercise of pastoral ministry. We see,therefore, in the practice of ordinations, a paradox which is particularly significant.The priest and the bishop do not take partin the diaconal ordo, but if they make uptogether, in a differentiated manner, only apriestly ordo, priests and bishops arealways carried along by the sacramentalityof the diaconate which they have received.

There is here each thing which deter-mines the meaning of Christian priest-hood: it is like preceded, pre-formed by thediaconal ministry. One cannot define bet-ter the image of a priesthood which couldbe at the same time a service, and wetouch on one of the most profound novel-ties of the Gospel.

The second element concerns the mannerin which the tradition made up the minororders. We have noticed above the contro-versies on the subject of how the diaconatewas instituted. By contrast with these con-troversies, one matter appears remarkableby its stability: the minor orders havealways been attached to the diaconate.This appeared to be so much more sur-prising that they were conceived as dispo-sitions, of progressive preparations for thepriesthood. So the minor orders wouldhave to correspond logically to the priest-hood: but the tradition seems unanimousin making from them a development fromthe diaconate, as if there had been in thediaconate a ministerial fullness whichmakes it suitable for showing within itselfthe other ministries.11 So we would havea new key for understanding the decisionof Vatican II on the subject of the perma-nent diaconate, just forty years ago. It isnot only for fear of restoring the institu-tional harmony of the sacrament of order,and of making visible anew the diaconalordo after its progressive disappearance. It



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and the priesthood demonstrate a specificarticulation between this same Churchand the universal Church. The presbyteri-um – that is to say the visible collegeformed by the bishop and the priests – isimmediately at the point of articulationbetween the particular and the universalChurch: it is at once fully ‘in’ the particu-lar Church and ‘opposite’ the particularChurch by reason of communion betweenit and all the other particular churches. Inreturn, the diaconate does not show thesame purpose, it is not directly concernedwith the communion between the church-es: therefore it can have more ‘local’ phys-iognomy, more determined by the historyand situation of the churches which havedecided to restore the diaconal ordo.Without doubt this can explain the largerdifficulty shown when deacons are led tochange diocese: they have then to be inte-grated into a group which by its verynature has a strong local identity.

11 Thinking that Christ did not simplyinstitute the diaconate, through the medi-ation of the apostles, St. Bonaventure andSt Thomas considered the extension of thediaconate in the minor orders as the inter-vention of the Church. ‘[To begin with],the powers in question (of the minororders), would not exist except insofar asthey are linked to the unique power of thedeacon. But for the rest divine worshipdevelops itself, and the Church has explic-itly deployed in different orders whatwhich it implicitly possesses in one alone:and this is why the Master (PeterLombard) says that the Church has insti-tuted for itself the other orders(Nihilominus errant omnes paraedictaepotestates, sed implicate in una diaconipotestate. Sed postea ampliatus est cultusdivinus; et ecclesia quod amplicite habebatinuno ordine, explicite tradidit in diversis;et secundum hoc dicit Magister in littera,quod ecclisa alios ordines sibi instituit)’ StThomas, In IV Sentiarum, Dist.24 Qu.2Art.1 q.2 ad 2). The Church therefore can

freely fold back into the diaconate the ele-ments which it had there broken up. Inthis perspective, common to St Thomasand St Bonaventure is the proper sacra-mentality which the diaconate diffracts inthe minor orders, which are in this defini-tion themselves sacramentals, not open tobe repeated and communicating the char-acter of ordination. With regard to him,Duns Scotus thinks that Christ himselfwanted this sacramental diffraction of thediaconate in the minor orders.

The decision of Paul VI (Motu proprioMinisteria quaedam), in suppressing theminor orders, and in attaching the insti-tuted ministries to baptism and not to thesacrament of Order, is putting himselfmore in the tradition of St Thomas and StBonaventure: the minor orders were notdissolved, but in each case reinserted intothe diaconate. This framework offers acoherent view to make legitimate the prac-tice of the oriental churches which contin-ue to break down the diaconate into thecolection of minor orders. The decision ofMinisteria quaedam therefore opens atwofold investigation for theology: on theone hand, to explore this hypothesis of theministerial fullness of the diaconate,which would explain the variations ofthinking within the Church on the subjectof minor orders. On the other hand, tothink about the newness of the institutedministries. In the strict sense, the min-istries retained in Ministeria quaedam(those of lector and acolyte) are not thesame as the ancient minor orders eventhough they have the same name, sincethey are attached not to the diaconate, butto baptism. But the concrete loss resultingfrom this arrangement also confuses thedistinctions between recognised min-istries, instituted ministries and ordainedministries. Because we will not have clari-fied the status of ministries founded onbaptism, it will remain difficult to under-stand in what sense the diaconate can beagreed to represent some sort of fullness.



to which that person has been ordained,the one who received the character: so it islike, so to speak, the character of a soldier,by which , in the sight of combat, the sol-dier of the king is distinguished from theenemy soldier. (Charactere distinguituraliquis ab alio per comparationem adaliquem f inem in quem ordinatur quicharacterem accipit: sicut dictum est decharactere militari, quo in ordine ad pug-nam distinguitur miles Regis a militehostis), Ibidem, ad 3.

7 This is what Alphonse Borras empha-sises, on the subject of Georges Tavard’sproposed way of thinking about this: ‘ G.H. Tavard distinguishes four functions inthe this group of ministry: in the firstplace, the function of mediation, thenproclamation of the Gospel, then the func-tion of service and finally the task of edu-cation. These functions make a system inthemselves and depend on many variables(present needs, disposable resources,social gifts, cultural factors, etc.) Thistypology is, according to M. R. Alexander,more complete than that of the triamunera of Vatican II, which is drawn fromCalvin (p. 218; cf. pp. 202-208). It has theadvantage of integrating the historic her-itage of different churches and safeguard-ing the requirements of ecumenical dia-logue.’ (A. Borrras, ‘To think of theChurch’, in Nouvelle Revue Théologique118 (1996), p.90.

8 I have tried to clarify this by startingwith the maxim ‘ordained not for thepriesthood, but for service’ (cf. D.Gonneaud, ‘For the fortieth anniversary ofthe re-establishment of the diaconal ordo:reflections about a doctrinal maxim’Nouvelle Revue Théologique t. 126, 2004,p. 555-566)

9 Here there is a problem of terminolo-gy: following Vatican II, both the Code ofCanon Law and the Catechism of theCatholic Church avoid using the term

‘local Church’ to designate the particularChurch, which is therefore placed in akind of immediate tension in relation tothe universal Church. In return, we seethe style in which the Ceremonial ofBishops notes section 41 of SacrosanctumConcilium, while introducing a particular-ly significant nuance. To present the newliturgical norms which ensure that heMass is no longer called ‘Pontifical’ but‘Stational’ the Ceremonial does not hesi-tate to add to the text from the Council theterm ‘local Church’: ‘The principal mani-festation of the local Church (Latin text:Praecipua manifeestatio Ecclesiae localis)takes place when the bishop, as the highpriest of his flock, celebrates theEucharist, particularly when he does so inhis cathedral, surrounded by his presby-terium and his ministers, with the full andactive participation of all the holy people ofGod. This Mass, called ‘stational’ shows atone time the unity of the local Church(Latin text: unitatem Ecclesiae localis)and the diversity of its ministries aroundthe bishop and the Holy Eucharist.’(Ceremonial of Bishops). The conciliar textwhich provided the background to theCeremonial did not mention the localChurch, but spoke uniquely of the ‘mani-festation of the Church’. The introductionof this mention of the ‘local’ Church(which happens twice in as many lines)explains the sense of the new liturgicalrules: their purpose is not to deploy aroundthe bishop the maximum degree of solem-nity, but to make visible the wealth of min-istries which display the unity of the localChurch. To signify this new orientation,the ancient term of ‘Stational Mass’ wassubstituted for that of ‘Pontifical Mass’: theemphasis brings to this liturgical manifes-tation something of the diversity of min-istries.

10 To elucidate completely this originallink between the diaconate and the sacra-mentality of the local Church woulddemand that we clarify how the episcopate



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In 1984 T. F. Torrance published thebooklet The Eldership in the Reformed

Church.1 Written in his retirement, thebooklet was Torrance’s attempt to rescuethe eldership from what he named as ‘per-sistent ambiguities and problems about thenature and function of the elder’s office’(p. 3). We do not need to follow Torranceas he tracks through these in-housePresbyterian ambiguities. We have enoughof our own in relation to the diaconate.The point at which Torrance arrived, how-ever, has long been of considerable interestto me for insights it makes available for ourown ongoing reflections on the diaconatein the Roman Catholic Church.2

In the first place, Torrance emphasisesthat the elders are ordained only by ‘those

who are themselves ordained and commis-sioned, that is, not by the people, but bythose who are called and sent by Christwith authority to act in his Name, and, ina significant sense, in his stead... ‘ (p. 8)

Torrance does not pretend that this kind oftheology of instalment of the elder is uni-form in the Presbyterian tradition (p. 9),

but it is the theology that makes sense forhim – and fits well enough with expecta-tions within our tradition.

This ‘ordaining’ of elders is only the begin-ning. It provides an elder who has anecclesial character – and, yes, the word‘character’ does echo with values attach-ing to the ‘character’ we speak of in thetheology of orders.

Torrance moves from this ecclesial charac-ter of the elder to the function of the elder,and here he says an interesting thing: ‘thekind of functions [elders] perform bear aclose resemblance to the ... functions of thedeacon described in the Pastoral Epistlesand Early Church documents.’ (p. 9)

Torrance describes the functions as ‘animportant assistant ministry [my empha-sis] in the Church in association with bish-ops and presbyters...’ That is one claim.But he goes on to clarify and greatlyenrich this foundational idea with the following: the deacons ‘had particularly todo with ministry of the divine mercy andwith seeking the fruit of it in the life and mission of the community’ (p. 9, myemphasis).

Torrance concludes that there is a ‘sub-stantial relation between the Reformed [orPresbyterian] elder and the biblical andearly Christian deacon’ (p. 10).Accordingly, he goes on to argue for mak-ing a name swap in the Church ofScotland from ‘elder’ to ‘deacon’. Thatquestion is not ours. But we can, I believe,learn a lot from the further detail Torranceprovides of what his hybrid ‘elder-deacon’can do in the church today.


John N. Collins

As ‘ministerial assistants to presbytersand/or bishops’, deacons have ‘an impor-tant part in the regular liturgy of theChurch’:

� reading the Scripture;� prompting responses� leading the praise� assisting in the celebration of the

Eucharist� exercising stewardship over the gifts � hence, charged with the distribution of

goods to the poor� assisting presbyter or bishop in taking

Communion to house-churches

To many today this list will look nothingout of the ordinary. Deacons may well say,‘Yes, I do all that.’ However, when wereflect that Torrance is writing of the early

deacon, and when especially we note howclosely the deacon is incorporated into thewhole liturgical act – the deacon’s actionsintegrated into the liturgical act of the pre-siding presbyter or bishop – then the dea-con’s role takes on the character of some-thing much more than a merely subsidiaryfunction.

Of course, over many decades we havebecome accustomed to seeing altar boys

and girls as well as men and women of thecongregation doing bits and pieces or all ofthese functions. As a result, we may havelost, perhaps, a sense of the extra value theactivities take on as the result of beingecclesial activities, essential liturgy; theybecome acts of the church.

At the same time, our own practice hasbeen to allocate most of the functions inthe list to people we call extraordinary ministers, lectors, and so on. So wheredoes that leave the deacon?

This sort of contemporary Roman Catholicattitude easily translates into a mild disre-gard of the deacon: ‘What is he neededfor? We can all do that kind of thing.’ So itcan be helpful if we follow Torrance in tak-ing his reflections one step further.

I believe this is the step we have been fail-ing to take. Indeed, we may have lackedthe vision to see the need for it.

Torrance sees the ministry of the churchas ‘a two-fold activity’. One activity isfamiliar, and he names this ‘service of theWord’. Basically this is the ministry of thepresbyter and bishop as well as, in ourtime, of the deacon.

The other activity is rarely spoken of butimmediately makes sense and speaksclearly of its own importance. Torrancenames this the ‘service of response to theWord’.

Torrance alluded to this in his earlier richphrases about deacons’ ‘ministry of thedivine mercy’ and about deacons ‘seekingthe fruit’ – of that ministry – ‘in the life and


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John N. Collins is author of the studyDiakonia, among other works. This is amodified extract from a public lecturegiven at the Diaconate Conference of thediocese of Maitland-Newcastle, NSW, 13 August 2008

Learning about Diaconate from reflections of T. F. Torrance on the Eldership

Particularly to do withministry of the divinemercy and with seekingthe fruit of it in the lifeand mission of thecommunity

‘Ministry of the divinemercy’ – ‘seeking thefruit’ – of that ministry –‘in the life and mission of the community’

ities of deacons from beyond the congrega-tion would not seem to be helpful to anysuch pastoral diaconal strategy.

While Torrance does not spell out thestrategy in these precise terms, the outlineI have just given would seem to representhis concept of a ministry of response toWord and Sacrament. It is the strategythat I sketched in my book Deacons andthe Church: Making connections betweenold and new.4 In those pages (129-43) Iwas attempting to describe pastoral impli-cations of what I had come to understandof the character and role of deacons inearly Christian communities. Underpin-ning that description was the linguisticprofile of the deacon’s ancient title –diakonos – that had emerged from my ear-lier examination of the kind of Greek ter-minology used within those first Christianhouse-churches.

In any of these reflections I have taken forgranted that the diaconate will functionfruitfully within the church as a whole onlywhen it is open to women, many of whom

already perform functions of the kind Iallude to, but without the advantage of fullecclesial recognition and permanentecclesial blessing.

Within such a pastoral scenario I see hopefor a life-giving contemporary ministry of

deacons. Currently, however, what wehave been seeing among multiple varia-tions of deacon ministries across diocesesand within national churches is hardlyencouraging. �

1 Edinburgh: Handsel Press, 19842 See comments in the Afterword to my

Diakonia: Re-interpreting the AncientSources (New York: OUP, 1990), pp.254-55.

3 The concept of a ‘spiritual’ diakoniathat Torrance attempts to present hererelates to a diakonia that has a con-nection with the second activity notedabove of ‘response to the Word’. Thedeacon helps the congregation – or thepart of it that the deacon is responsiblefor – to understand the religiousimport of the Word presented throughthe liturgy. Torrance needs to call thisministry ‘spiritual’ because, like hismentor Karl Barth, he understandsthe diakonia of the New Testament tobe ‘a humble form of service’ (p. 13,and as described in his paper ‘Servicein Jesus Christ’ in J. I. McCord and T.H. L. Parker, eds (Grand Rapids, MI:Eerdmans 1960), pp. 707-13. Anysuch evaluation of diakonia is incom-patible with the semantic outcomes inmy Diakonia: Re-interpreting theAncient Sources.

4 Leominster, UK: Gracewing, 2002; seeespecially pp. 129-43.


Learning about Diaconate from reflections of T.F. Torrance on the Eldership – John N. Collins

mission of the community’.

At this later stage of his booklet Torranceadvises that we distort the office of deaconif we think of the deacon’s ministry being‘restricted to the ministry of alms andsocial care’ (p. 13). Reduced to this, theoffice of deacon ceases to be ‘an evangeli-cal office’. It must recover its ‘wholeness’by re-instituting itself as, in his words, ‘anessentially spiritual and evangelical diako-nia’.3

At this point of an ‘evangelical diakonia’ Idraw attention to how Torrance envisagessuch an evangelical activity as deepening

what he calls ‘the mutuality and comple-mentarity between the presbyteral min-istry of the Word and Sacrament [the firstof Torrance’s two-fold ministerial activi-ties] and the diaconal ministry of sharedobedience to Christ’ (p. 14).

The outcome for church order – and forthe deacon – would add up to the deaconexercising ‘a more central ministry in theresponses of God’s worshipping people...’,that is, in helping God’s people respond tothe Word of God which they enter intoeach time they participate in liturgy.

In arguing for a ministry for deacons thatwas essentially far removed from ‘the min-istry of alms and social care’, what wasTorrance envisaging and how would itoperate?

For Torrance what enlivens the communi-

ty or congregation is the reception it givesto the Word and Sacrament provided atthe regular liturgy. Torrance assumes,however, that not all individuals are neces-sarily attuned all the time to what theWord is actually offering them. So he con-cludes that any partial form of participa-tion – occasioned by one’s state of health,for example – or even a largely disaffectedattitude will impede the enrichment onoffer through the Sacrament of the Lord’sEucharist. Add to this that a sole individualpastor is not physically able to amelioratesuch regularly recurring situationsthrough personal ministry to the numer-ous individuals who are distanced from theprocesses of reception of and responses tothe Word and Sacrament.

Accordingly, the objective of the ministry ofWord and Sacrament could be more effec-tively attained if each congregation wereequipped with ministerial assistants whoseresponsibility it would be to assist people intheir responses. This ministry of cultivat-ing a response to the Word would not behaphazard or left to chance. Deacons mayneed to be assigned to different sectors ofthe congregation. The form of their min-istry would, nonetheless, be variable.Largely deacons would engage in house-church ministry, but the ministry couldtake other forms: open meetings – tutori-als even, social gatherings, one-on-oneinteractions, telephone and email commu-nication, prayer, meditation, and so on.

A diaconal ministry of this kind woulddevelop strong and even intimate bondsbetween deacons and levels or sectors ofthe congregation, a wholly mutual set ofrelationships. But of course such coulddevelop uniformly probably only if the per-son chosen to be a sector’s deacon werealready a respected and appropriatelyskilled member of that sector or of thelarger congregation itself.

A system of appointment by higher author-


Learning about Diaconate from reflections of T.F. Torrance on the Eldership – John N. Collins

Helping God’s peoplerespond to the Word ofGod which they enterinto each time theyparticipate in liturgy

What we have beenseeing among multiplevariations of deaconministries across dioceses and withinnational churches ishardly encouraging

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one by one the theological conceptionspresented by J. Caminada, A. Winter, P.Huenermann, W. Kasper, B. Hilberath andO. Fuchs (pages 22-53). This complemen-tary ministerial model can be summarisedas follows: “Deacons and priests have ashare, each in their own specificallyordered way, in the one and only sacra-mental ministry whose fullness is given tothe bishop. The bishop has, so to speak,two arms which have different tasks but

which must work in together.”4

In the following section Sander presentsseveral studies that, in his opinion, rest ona more or less hierarchically structuredmodel: in this model the deacon occupiesthe lowest level of hierarchical office. Forhimself, Sander strongly supports thecomplementary ministerial model (pages68-76), among other reasons because hethinks that the concept of hierarchicaloffice is not to be found in the NewTestament.

In the next two chapters Sander deals withthe origins of church office. Within thecontext of the question on the origin andidentity of church offices he starts (chap-ter 2) a detective work of sorts in the NewTestament. As the characteristic of theunderstanding of church office in the NewTestament, he singles out “great freedom”and “flexibility” (page 86). The books ofthe New Testament reveal to us a greatnumber of community structures and welldefined ministries. Sander, however,thinks that one single word in the NewTestament – namely diakonia – was usedas a more or less general concept (page87) and that this diakonia is the only sinequa non requirement put forward by theNew Testament for all church offices(page 89).

In the third chapter Sander deals with thehistory of the diaconate in the first cen-turies up to its transformation into a meretransitional stage to priesthood. He quotesvarious texts from the Didache, the firstletter of Clement, the letters of St Ignatiusof Antioch, the Traditio Apostolica and theDidascalia. In Sander’s view, the “the ear-


Introduction In earlier times, the bishop of Sens wasthe metropolitan of the bishop ofParis. His cathedral was therefore rankedhigher than that of Paris. Today, whoevervisits the not particularly big town of Sens,would have no difficulty in finding thecathedral. The patron of this church is St. Stephen the first martyr and, accord-ing to the tradition, a deacon. ThisStephen is often depicted with stones anda palm branch, both symbols of his martyrdom, and he is dressed in a dal-matic, the deacon’s vestment.

However, at the entrance to the Senscathedral a statue of the patron saint rep-resents him holding a book of the Gospels.3

Why? Because already in the Acts of theApostles diakonia meant not only care forthe widows but also – and maybe beforeanything else – the proclamation of theGospel. Stefan Sander’s book which we

are dealing with here addresses therenewed diaconate of the CatholicChurch. As a contribution to the criticaldebate this renewal has occasioned, Iwould like to show that StefanSander neglects the tradition of the dea-con as a herald of the Word, therebyrestricting the pastoral possibilities as wellas the essential significance of the deacon.

From ‘Cult in place of Love’to ‘Diakonia instead ofCult’? Sander opens his book with the statementthat after the renewal undergone by theCatholic Church through the SecondVatican Council different theologicalapproaches to diaconate emerged. Headded, however, that post-conciliar discus-sion was unable to produce a consensus asto any specific function of the deacon thatmight provide the ministry of the deaconwith a more distinctive profile (page 13).What is the differentia specifica of the dea-con? What are the powers given him byvirtue of his ordination? What motivatesthe sacramentality of diaconate? Does theministry of the deacon have a share in therepresentation of Christ and, if so, in whatdoes this consist? Sander presents hisbook as a reflection on these problems andas a contribution to the debate on the the-ology of sacramental diaconate.

In the first chapter Sander presents thevarious attempts to identify the diaconalministry within the sacramental unity oforders. He distinguishes between twomodels: the complementary ministerialmodel and the model arising from the con-cept of hierarchy. In the description of thecomplementary model, Sander examines


Bart J. Koet

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This article makes observations on arecent study of the deacon in light of theunity of the sacrament of Orders1 It isalso timely in the light of the recentSynod of Bishops on the Word of God.Dr Bert J. Koet is lecturer in NewTestament Exegesis and Introduction inthe New Testament at the Department forCatholic Theology, University of Tilburg,the Netherlands (Utrecht campus) andlecturer for Religion and Catechetics at

Whatever became of ‘The Diakoniaof the Word’?

In the Acts of theApostles diakonia meantnot only care for thewidows but also – andmaybe before anythingelse – the proclamationof the Gospel

Illusatration: St.Stephen at the main portico of Sens

Cathedral,2 Burgundy

cry of the stranger, the lowly, the inade-quate, the marginalised, of the unusualother, calls for a concrete response, inwhatever circumstance of one’s life; thetaking up of this response leads to anencounter with God. The sacramentalityof the seemingly worthless other is a dif-ferent but not inferior or deficient form ofthe sacramental presence of Christ’ (p.304).

Whatever happened to ‘The Diakonia of the Word’? Sander’s book is a scientific analysis of thedebates about diaconate from variousangles. In a German which is quite rigidand therefore a little bit difficult for me asa non-native speaker and which it may alsobe for other non-native speakers (hisGerman is somewhat reminiscent ofHeidegger’s) he summarises not only thevarious theologies of diaconate but also theexegetical and historical discussions aboutits origins. Moreover, he puts the commu-nio theology of diaconate in the context ofLevinas’ philosophy. I cannot but admiresomeone with the intelligence and energyto collect and order all this material -andin his spare time at that. Sander offersmuch material likely to help in the presen-tation and defence of the complementarymodel of diaconate. This in itself is animportant contribution.

Sander’s ideas are to a certain extentcomparable with those of the Belgian the-ologian A. Borras, who dealt with the dia-conate within the system of the Church. Asystem is whole in which the various partsare not only connected to each other butalso influence each other. More concrete-ly, Borras’ stance is that the reinstated dia-conate is a part of the Church whichstands in a relationship to priests, bishopsand lay people and has its own place in thissystem in interaction with all thesegroups.8

At first sight, Sander’s book has a clean

line. After a presentation of the historicalsources, Sander connects the topic of com-munio provided by the Second VaticanCouncil with the various ordainedoffices. Communio is linked to representa-tion, and that, in turn, leads one toLevinas’ philosophy.

The book gives food for thought – and thisshould be understood as a big compli-ment. In my view it also has some essentialthings to say about diaconate as a part ofthe communio of ordained ministry. Givenits extensive material, however, it is under-standable that the book should evoke somecritical asides and prompt new questions. Ifind his contribution to the profile of dia-conate not always convincing. ConsequentlyI would like to add some remarks from myown perspective as a Dutch New Testamentscholar.

Sander’s book sees itself as a contributionto debate about the diaconate. My firstremark may appear trivial but, as aDutchman, I am quite surprised how littlenon-German literature on the diaconate isused in this book.9 Its contribution to theworld-wide debate on diaconate is therebydiminished. Moreover the author leaves usunder the impression that he’s not evenaware of this limitation. Even the verydense and important report of thePontifical International TheologicalCommission on the diaconate is not men-tioned.10 Does this have anything to dowith the fact that the said document wasnot translated into German? In Franceand in Belgium there are comprehensivestudies about the diaconate which havebeen published in recent years. Whoeverreads the above mentioned study byBorras will realise that this author alsosees some problems in respect of the identity of the diaconate, but also that he is much less negative about LumenGentium 29.11

Linked to this limitation is the fact that


liest community” finds its identity in thecommunity celebration of the Lord’sSupper and, through that celebration, isconstituted as the eschatological People ofGod. The community forms the eucharis-tic celebration and the life of the commu-nity itself as a unison in tension betweenthe sacramentality of the eucharist andthe realities of the community’s historical-ly conditioned existence. This unity of themeal as both a responsibility for the poorand a eucharistic event lays the foundationfor the kind of ministry that constitutes the‘two-fold office’ of bishop and deacon.5

Sander thinks that in the ensuing develop-ment the diaconate lost its identity as aresult of the sacerdotalisation of both thepresbyterate and the episcopate, a processthat already began in the early third cen-tury.6 This tendency to understand churchoffice as sacerdotal immediately limits it tocult: ‘Cult in place of Love’ (pages 171-174). With the transition to the post-Constantinian imperial church the social-charitable dimension is lost and the impor-tance of the deacon decreases. Monasteriesbecome responsible for this diakonia,replacing other communities in that role.

Although the Council of Trent did discussthe diaconate, only the Second VaticanCouncil unequivocally defined the sacra-mentality of diaconate and made provi-sions for the re-instatement of the perma-nent diaconate.7

Sander goes on to sketch the develop-ments leading up to the reinstatement ofdiaconate by the Second Vatican Council.In chapter four of his book he tackles thepre-conciliar debate as well as the discus-sion that took place in the Councilitself. He describes the ecclesiological con-text and the main features of the Council’stheology of church office. He naturallydeals with the keynote text of LumenGentium 29. His most important conclu-sion is that because of the (seemingly rele-

vant) pastoral necessity for a diaconate nobroad theological debate was engaged con-cerning the theological identity of the dia-conate itself.

On account of the fact that the SecondVatican Council describes in LumenGentium the relationship between theepiscopate, the presbyterate and the dia-conate as a communio, Sander devotes thefifth chapter of his book to this concept.The Council describes the unity of God –Father, Son and Holy Spirit – as the trini-tarian model of the Church. This trinitari-an communio is, according to Sander, theformal and structural principle of thesacramental ordo. He shows, however, thatnew theological constructs seek to do awaywith the traditional pre-eminence of unityover diversity. Unity and plurality have thesame origin. The trinitarian mystery as com-munio and the communio of sacramentalordo are to be understood as a mere anal-ogy. If, as a result, one sees relationshipswithin the sacramental ordo as a commu-nio (in the line of Lumen Gentium), thenthe sacramental unity of bishops, priestsand deacons should also be understood asa relational event (page 247). For Sander,‘Office’ means ‘to-be-for-another’. In this,the idea of ‘Representation’ is important.

In the following sixth chapter Sander triesto achieve a new understanding of theconcept of ‘representation’ but also of con-cepts like ‘ordination’, ‘liturgy’ and ‘wit-ness’. He does this in dialogue with E.Levinas’ philosophy. As a key to this deep-er understanding he uses Levinas’ conceptthat the immediacy of the other means theimmediacy of the presence of God, i.e., ofthat which is totally different.

In the last chapter Sander sketches theimportance for the sacramentality of dia-conate of the ‘representation of the seem-ingly worthless other’. He contends: ‘Thedeacon exists for this purpose – and is inhimself a constant reminder of it – that the


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Sander implicitly starts his reflection fromsomething which I, for simplicity’s sake,prefer to call the ‘German model’.12

As already shown by John N. Collins, inGermany one equates the concept ofdiakonia (especially since TheodorFliedner) with the practice of charity, withfaith in action, with helping in the name offaith in Christ.13 In the twentieth century,the word diakonia was often used even inCatholic circles as a substitute for ‘charitywork’, including in the very description ofthe newly re-instated diaconal ministry bythe Second Vatican Council.14 The min-istry of the deacon is connected – and notonly in Germany- above all to the socialmission of the church. And it is this modelfor diaconate that I typify as the ‘Germanmodel’.

In order the better to understand the dis-cussion, I would characterise this conceptof diakonia as too restricted.15 As an exam-ple of a broader concept I could mentionActs 6: in this biblical episode we find anaccount of how a specific group ofChristians is entrusted with the care of thewidows. The apostles continue to focus onprayer and the diakonia of theWord. There is, therefore, not just the‘diakonia’ of the tables (Acts 6: 1-2) butalso the ‘diakonia’ of the Word (6: 4) andthis not only for the apostles themselvesbut also for Stephen (Acts 7) and Philip(Acts 8). In the New Testament there is aclear link between the service of the tablesand the service of the Word.16

It is therefore clear that only if one usesthe expression ‘diakonia’ in a narrowsense can it be argued that the majority ofthe deacons who are active in their com-munities are not attaching much value tothe ‘genuine’ (sic!) diaconal service.17

We should therefore ask ourselveswhether in the earliest times the diaconalministry was really connected in a particu-

lar way with the care for the poor andneedy. This issue was cleared by the philo-logical research carried out by John N.Collins. His study of the Greek worddiakonos and its lexical family makes itclear that deacons were more than justcharity workers.18 As I elaborated in anoth-er context, one could mention here thatthe meaning of diakonia can even extendto a sort of mediation between God andHis people.19 The Jewish author FlaviusJosephus is a diakonos of God’s voice.20 SoJosephus, who lived one generation laterthan St. Paul, understood the worddiakonos as a person who transmits theword of God.21 It follows that the deaconhas a special connection to the Word.

Throughout history and up to the present-day ordination liturgy a connection ismade between diaconate and the Gospel.In this sense Lumen Gentium reconnectsto more ancient conceptions of the diaconate.

But what place is given in Sander’s book tothe ‘diaconate of the Word’? This connec-tion is constantly mentioned in one way oranother but is never reflected upon.22 Atleast just as often Sander overlooks thefact that the earliest community found itsidentity not merely in the common cele-bration of the Lord’s Supper but also inthe proclamation of the Word of God.

Even though the book shows a high degreeof scholarship, it lacks a fundamental dis-cussion on the relationship between dia-conate and diakonia. This could have to

do with the fact that this relationship isunconsciously understood by Sander inthe more restricted sense of diakonia andtherefore such a connection appearsimplicitly. Even though he laments the factthat there are no tasks which would bespecific to a deacon, he seems to know,from the very beginning of the book, whatthe characterising feature of a deaconreally is. His ideas on this topic move espe-cially in the direction of a restricted con-cept of diaconate. Already on page 14 hereproaches the German bishops for failingto mention the diaconal ministry in one oftheir declarations on charity. He asks:‘Wouldn’t one suppose that the place ofthe deacon is also situated within this con-text?’ My question is: ‘Really?’ For two rea-sons it seems to me that the answer shouldbe negative: first of all, it is not only thedeacon that takes care of the poor, but alsothe bishop. Secondly the deacon is therenot only for the poor, but he also has verymuch to do with the Word, with theGospel.

My first point: the care for the poor is notexclusively the concern of the deacon. Anold tradition sees the care for the poor aspart of a bishop’s diakonia. And Sander isright to assume that the bishop has to bepater pauperum (page 173).

Furthermore, ever since Collins’ research,it is no longer possible to understanddiakonia exclusively as care for the poor.In the years following its publicationCollins’ book made little impact inGermany, and where it did the impact wasprimarily in the non-Catholic circles.23 Myguess is that this neglect has to do with thefact that German scholars read little for-eign literature. Should we regard it asindicative that Sander does in fact men-tion Collins’ book, but indicates the wrongyear of publication for it?24

Recently a thoroughly researched bookwas published in German which totally

confirms the semantic principles ofCollins’ re-interpretation, althoughin regard to a few passages of theNew Testament, the author arguesfor interpretations different fromhis.25 Such differences, however,have no significant bearing on thetheology of diaconate. This leads to thenecessity of reconsidering one’s under-standing of diaconate in the light of thenow established re-interpretation of diako-nia. In this regard, Sander’s book could beoutdated, as far at least as Germany is con-cerned, a year after its publication.

Another important requirement withinGermany is to give increased attention tothe original tasks of the deacon. Closer his-torical research into the connection of thedeacon with the bishop and also with theGospel could probably show that the everrecurrent unilateral stress on ‘service tothe poor’ as a possible differentia specificahas had an exaggerated influence on thediscussion so far.

In a certain way the law of ‘a hamperingadvantage’ applies as well to the GermanCatholics. After being, in a first stage, oneof the most important driving forces forthe reinstatement of the permanent dia-conate, the German way of seeing thingshas today become, more often than not,both a brake and an obstruction for thefurther expansion of the diaconate. Thecynical remarks of Herbert Vorgrimler in aFestschrift for Klemens Richter are a casein point.26

Thus Sander presents himself as under-standing what the diaconate is and seeksits rationale once more one-sidedly in thecare for the poorest of the poor. He deemsthe Council’s point of view about theordained ministry “unbalanced”.27 WhilstSander considers the threefold diako-nia of liturgy, of word, of charity inLumen Gentium as a reason why the spe-cific feature of diaconate has not surfaced


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Study of the Greek worddiakonos and its lexicalfamily makes it clear thatdeacons were more thanjust charity workers

that we ourselves were nomadic Arameansat some point. Perhaps the poor are theones who help us here. The paramountexample for that comes from the deaconpar excellence of the Church of Rome: St.Lawrence calls the poor the treasure ofthe Church (see image on the front coverof this journal).

ConclusionI have been able here to make only a fewremarks on Sander’s dense book.29 Themost important question, to my mind, ishow Sander tackles the traditionally dia-conal task of proclaiming the Word. In hismodel – a model I described as ‘German’ –this aspect is worryingly neglected. Despitethe above, I wish to reiterate that this‘German model’ is by no means supportedby all German theologians. An importantexample in this respect is Cardinal Frings’homily at the ordination of the first per-manent deacons in the Cologne Cathedral(28-04-1969). Because he was almostblind at the time, Dr. Augustinus Frotz,one of his auxiliary bishops performed theordination, but it was the elderly cardinalhimself who delivered the homily. This ser-mon was published in 1980 in a Festschriftfor Bishop Frotz on the occasion of theGolden Jubilee of his priesthood.

Frings starts his homily by stating that thedeacon is commissioned with three minis-terial actions: The first one is the wholefield of the liturgy, administration of thesacraments and sacramentals. The secondis the task of preaching the Word of Godand of catechesis. The third is care for thepoor, the social service as well as helping inthe administration of the Church.

And he goes on to name great examples:Sts. Stephen and Philip for the proclama-tion of the Gospel, and St.Lawrence forthe practical proclamation. The elderlycardinal could no longer see – and yet itwas as if he had before his eyes the won-derful image of St. Stephen holding the

Gospel Book in his hand.30 The deacon isnot only the one who cares for the poor, heis the mediator between liturgy, Scriptureand the world, walking thus on both feet.

Translated by Cristian Mocanu and TonySchmitz, with the assistance of John N.Collins. This article appeared originally inGerman in Diakonia Christi 42 (2007),pp. 182-192 and the translation is pub-lished with the author’s permission. �

1 Stefan Sander, Gott begegnet imAnderen, Der Diakon und die Einheit dessakramentalen Amtes (Freiburger theologis-che Studien, Bd. 171), Freiburg i. Br., 2006

2 The image can be found at catholique-sens-auxerre.cef.fr/sens/indexaccueil.htm(retrieved 6 February. 2008)

3 See Cathedrale de Sens, SaintEtienne dans sa Cathédrale (Les cahiersde culture et de foi, no. 8), Sens 2007.

4 Walter Kasper, “Der Diakon in ekklesi-ologischer Sicht angesichts der gegenwär-tigen Herausforderungen in Kirche undGesellschaft”, Diakonia Christi 32 (1997)13-33,15.

5 Sander neglects, however, the fact thatthe early Christian community found itsidentity also in the proclamation of theWord of God (Old Testament and Gospel).

6 In this respect, Sander thinks that inthe 9th century the presbyterate became amandatory stage before the episcopal ordi-nation. However, in The Cursus Honorum:A Study and Evolution of SequentialOrdination (Patristic Studies, Vol. 3, NewYork, 2000), John St. H. Gibault showsthat in the 10th century there were stilldeacons who became Bishop of Romewithout receiving a presbyteral ordination:Benedict V, Benedict VI and Boniface VIII(pp. 232-234). The first deacon ever to be


Whatever became of ‘The Diakonia of the Word’? – Bart J. Koet

as yet (as for instance at page 221-228), Ipersonally consider Lumen Gentium as agood summary of what the New Testamentmeans by the word diakonia: the connec-tion between that task of evangelisationand the care for the poor. Is it by chancethat Sander turns his regard to the biblicalroots of diaconate in his reflection [77-137], but later on fails to reflect on therelation between deacon and the Word ofGod? In so doing, his own conception ofdiaconate loses its balance and becomesjust what he accused the Council of:unbalanced.

It is precisely this one-sided emphasis onthe so-called service which becomes asdangerous for the poor as for those whohelp them. Sander founds the sacramen-tality of diaconate on the need to recognise‘the seemingly worthless other’. He goeson to list some categories of this “other”:strangers [amongst them the also themigrants?], the lowly, the inadequate,those at the margin of society, the ‘unusu-al’ other in whatever circumstance of life(p. 304).

In this respect he mentioned that ‘thedeacon should, as a representative of JesusChrist, look for the guilty and for the suf-fering precisely there where that is hap-pening and thus be with them and helpthem through compassion at the point oftheir extremity’ (page 304).

All beautifully said, but for me the follow-ing remark is important in this respect: I(who worked for fifteen years as a deaconin the largest prison of Amsterdam in theNetherlands) don’t understand how, with-in one and the same paragraph the ‘lowly’become the ‘guilty’. What are thestrangers or the lowly guilty of? When Ihear ‘to help through compassion’ I almostunwillingly associate it with Robespierresaying: ‘Compassion is treason’. I can alsosense some undertones of FriedrichNietzsche’s disdain for Christian charity. I

don’t wish to give anti-Christian rhetoricthe last word here but it does contribute toclarifying the issue that is really at stakehere.

My question is whether or not compassioncan really be an adequate diaconal atti-tude. Again, the over simplified equationbetween diakonia and helping the poortakes its toll. In my work in prisons I havelearned that compassion rarely helps andis often very unpleasant for the inmates. Ifa prison chaplain wishes to learn from theothers, from the seemingly worthless butalso from the drug baron, then one estab-lishes a link with the world outside, as wellas with God’s world. One can learn fromthese people, and when one honours themin this way, then there is a chance thatthey open themselves for the religious wis-dom which one represents, but maybe alsofor the acceptance of oneself.

Compassion is too often paternalistic.Quite often, it is true, prisoners need a‘father’, but they rarely need a paternalis-tically minded person. I am also not quitesure whether the asymmetry of the rela-tionship, mentioned here in line withLévinas, is the only angle from which suchpastoral situations should be considered.Even if Lévinas’ point of view (i.e. that apastoral relationship is normally asymmet-ric) is basically correct, one should stilllook for a space where a symmetrical rela-tionship can begin.28 For it could be thecase that both the stranger and the pastorprofit from such a relationship.

The Church’s care for the poor is a part ofboth the bishop’s and the deacon’s diako-nia. In this point we see how unfortunateit is that Sander makes much use of theBible in his historical exposition, but failsto think biblically. From both the OldTestament and the Gospel we know thatsocial relations are never founded on com-passion but rather on justice and on thefact that the poor are our equals. We recall



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D.C., 2008, 163-185 and Id. (with WendyE.S. North), ‘The Image of Martha in Luke10,38-42 and in John 11:1-12:8)’ in: G. vanBelle et al. (eds.), Miracles and Imagery inLuke and John (Fs. Ulrich Busse, BETL218, Peeters, Leuven, 2008), 47-66.

17 See Martin Ebner, “Diakonie undLiturgie-Neutestamentliche Rückfragen”,in: Benedikt Kranemann et al. (eds), Diediakonale Dimension der Liturgie (QD218) Freiburg i. Br., 2006, 31-40, here 32.

18 Collins, Diakonia. Re-interpreting theAncient Sources; Mühl (“Mysterium fidei”)thinks it remarkable that in Germanspeaking countries no one seems to beaware that since Collins’ comprehensiveresearch ‘on the notion of diakonia in thesources’ the basic meaning of diakonia as‘waiting at tables’ is no longer tenable.

19 See Collins, Diakonia. Re-interpretingthe Ancient Sources, 77-95; see Bart J. Koet,‘Diakonie ist nicht nur Armenfürsorge.Neuere exegetische Erkenntnisse zumVerständnis von Diakonie’ in C. Gramzow-H. Liebold – M. Sander-Gaiser, (eds.),Lernen wäre eine prima Alternative.Religionspädagogik in theologischer underziehungswissenschaftlicher Perspektive,Leipzig, 2008, 303-318.

20 On the Judaean War, 4..626.

21 See Koet, ‘Diakonie ist nicht nurArmenfürsorge’, 315-318; see also WillemC. van Unnik, ‘Die Prophetie bei Josephus’in: Id., Flavius Josephus als historischerSchriftsteller, Heidelberg, 1978, 41-54,here 44 sq.

22 See e.g. page 77, 81 (note 272), 87, 88(note 302), 141, 221 and 303; also pages101 and 280 (note 1273). But where is theWord of God, e.g., on page 149?

23 Volker Herrmann et al. (eds),Diakonische Konturen, Theologie im

Kontext sozialer Arbeit (Veröffentlichungendes Diakoniewissenschaftlichen Institutsan der Universität Heidelberg), vol.18,Heidelberg 2003; about this book, see my‘Diakonie ist nicht nur Armenfürsorge’, pp.304-305.

24 1995 instead of 1990. We find thesame mistake in Annemarie C. Mayer,‘Literatur zum Diakonat’, Diakonia Christi39 (2004) Heft 3/4, 143-151, here 145.

25 Anni Hentschel, Diakonia im NeuenTestament: Studien der Semantik unterbesonderer Berücksichtigung der Rolle vonFrauen, (Wunt, 2 Reihe, 226), Tübingen,2007, see my review in: Bijdragen 69(2008) 110-112 (English).

26 See Herbert Vorgrimler, ’Liturgie,Diakonie und Diakone’ in: BenediktKranemann et al. (eds), Die diakonaleDimension der Liturgie (QD, 218),Freiburg i. Br., 2006,236-245;here 237

27 Sander stresses that the Council wasmotivated by pastoral worries or necessi-ties (e.g. on pages 17,195 and 223). Heseems to give a negative judgment onthat:’Unausgewogene Theologie’ (page194).

28 This is done in the dissertation by oneof my former colleagues in the prison:Reinilde van Wieringen, Gaande hetgesprek. Domeinanalytische bedaderingvan het individuele pastoral gesprek,(Utrecht, 2004). Unfortunately, the bookis published only in Dutch.

29 Unfortunately, the book lacks anindex.

30 See Josef Cardinal Frings, ‘ZumDienen bestellt’ in Joseph G. Plöger &Herrmann J. Weber (eds), Der Diakon.Wiederentdeckung und Erneuerung desDienstes, (Festschrift A. Frotz), Freiburg i.Br., 1980, 259-262, here 260.



first elected Pope and then ordained priestprior to being consecrated Bishop of Romewas Gregory VII (1073); see Gibault, TheCursus Honorum 296 sq.); on Gibault’sbook see also Bart J. Koet, “Diakon:Adjutant des Bischofs oder Sprungbrettzur Priesterschaft, Randbemerkungen zurjüngsten Studie über Cursus Honorum”,Diakonia Christi 41(2006), 41-46.

7 Sander forgets to indicate that the ‘per-manent’ diaconate persisted for a muchlonger time than is commonly apprecited.Bernhard Holter (Zum besonderen Dienstbestellt. Die Sicht des Priesteramtes beiFranz von Assisi und die Spuren seinesDiakonates in den “Opuscula”,Franziskanische Forschungen, Bd.36,Werl, 1992), shows that permanent dea-cons existed up to the height of the MiddleAges (311-312.) Since St. Francis wascalled a ‘Levite’ and sang the Gospel atMass, it is possible that he was a deacon.The last ‘genuine’ Cardinal-deacon wasTeodolfo Cardinal Martel (1806-1899); seeKoet, Diakon: Adjutant des Bischofs oderSprungbrett zur Priesterschaft, 41.

8 Alphonse Borras, Le diaconat aurisque de sa nouveauté, Bruxelles, 2007;see also Alphonse Borras & BernardPottier, La grâce du diaconat. Questionsactuelles autour du diaconat catholique,Bruxelles 1998.

9 His exegetical discussion is also exclu-sively oriented to German contributions. Icannot elaborate here on the conse-quences of such limitations. At differentpoints, some reference to ‘foreign’ litera-ture would have led to a deepening of thediscussion on exegetical and patristicsources; see e.g. above note 6.

10 For an English translation, seeInternational Theological Commission,From the Diakonia of Christ to theDiakonia of the Apostles, CTS, London2003. And for a fresh and more complete

translation, see Tony Schmitz’s version inthis issue and subsequent issues of theNew Diaconal Review.

11 Borras, Le diaconat au risque de sanouveauté,53-61

12 Having said that, not all Germans writ-ing on diaconate follow this model; seeMatthias Mühl, “Mysterium fidei? DreiThesen als Bausteine für eine Theologiedes Diakonats”, Communio 33 (2004)387-398. Mühl calls the idea according towhich diaconate should be primarily carefor the poor a ‘narrowing to social charity’.I agree with many of the points he makes.

13 See John N. Collins, Diakonia. Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources, NewYork-Oxford, 1990, 6-14, and JohnN.Collins, Deacons and the Church.Making Connections Between Old andNew, Herefordshire, 2002,1-24. Cf. myreview in Diakonia Christi 39 (2004) 185-189, and also Martin Gerhardt, TheodorFliedner. Ein Lebensbild, Düsseldorf 1933-1937.

14 The identification of charity anddiakonia is further strengthened by thefact that the process of re-instatement ofthe permanent diaconate started with a‘lobby’ of the German Caritas. The firstpermanent deacons were Caritas employ-ees, trained as social workers; see MargretMorche, Zur Erneuerung des ständigenDiakonats, Freiburg i. Br., 1996.

15 See Sake Stoffels, ‘In het begin wasdiakonie’ in: Huub Crijns et al., 9ed.,Barmhartigheid en gerechtigheid. Handboekdiakoniewetenschap, Kampen 2006, 11-18,here 12.

16 See Bart J. Koet, ‘Luke 10: 38-42 andActs 6: 1-7: A Lucan Diptych on Diakonia’in: J. Corley & V. Skemp (eds), Studies onthe Greek Bible, (Fs. Francis T. Gignac,CBQ Monograph Series, 44) Washington,



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The fourfold structureThe way in which to accommodate the tra-ditional sequence of phases within LectioDivina – lectio, meditatio, oratio and con-templatio, will depend on whether one isalone or in a group, and on the nature ofthe group. In Lectio Divina by oneself, thefour phases can develop progressively, onemerging into the next. But with a group,especially when its members are lessfamiliar with Lectio Divina – or with each

other – it may be better to have a moreflexible structure with a greater degree ofoverlapping of the various phases, sincesome people can feel hesitant about shar-ing openly the fruits of their oratio or con-templatio or about sitting in prayerfulsilence with others except in church. Thefollowing brief notes are designed withsuch a new group in mind.

PreparationA group can comprise any number, thoughdifferent-sized groups can have very differ-ent dynamics. About five to ten is oftenrecommended, but that really is only aguide. The session might last from half anhour to an hour, depending on the groupand how it ‘goes’.

When we engage in Lectio Divina, it’smore about hearing than about speaking:the text should do the talking. Our part is

to allow God’s word to penetrate beyondthe eyes that too often simply follow thetext in the Mass-sheet, and beyond theears that ‘listen without hearing’, and towork its way into our hearts. We can dothis only if we listen attentively, and in astate of reflective calm. For this reason, asfor any session of prayer, Lectio Divinashould always be preceded by a period of afew minutes of tranquillity and silence.

Especially when dealing with a ‘difficult’text, it may be helpful, in a group, to offera few words of background, but in LectioDivina it can often prove that ‘less ismore’. It may help to explain where – say– Jesus was, when he spoke or did whatthe text contains. But precisely becausewe need to be as open as possible to thevoice of the Holy Spirit speaking throughthe text, we need to be careful as to howmuch ‘context’ we give when introducingit to a group for Lectio Divina. Too muchbackground might actually focus ourminds too closely on the circumstancesthe passage originally relates to, so limitingthe opportunities for the Holy Spirit tospeak to us in the here and now.

Lectio-meditatio-oratio-con-templatio for a groupAs most readers of this will know, the textis read through slowly, at intervals, and toenable God’s word to speak to us, weshould hear it read to us, without followingit in parallel from a written text (even inLectio Divina on one’s own, some guidesreckon that we should follow ancient prac-tice by saying the text aloud, even if only ina whisper, so that it can actually penetrateour ears).The printed text can be used byindividuals as an aide-mémoire later on.

Most permanent deacons will almostcertainly have had some practical

experience of Lectio Divina, at least dur-ing their period of formation or on retreat.But fewer of us, perhaps, practice LectioDivina on a regular basis, whether as partof our personal prayer or in a parish con-text. Yet Lectio Divina affords opportuni-ties not only for enriching our own spiritu-ality, but also for extending the exercise, aspermanent deacons, of our charism of theWord. In this article I want not so much tooffer a precise description of how to ‘do’Lectio Divina, as to outline some thoughtson introducing Lectio Divina into yourparishes.

Lectio DivinaTo translate Lectio Divina literally, as‘divine reading’, does not convey fully whatLectio Divina involves, which is why theterm is nearly always left untranslated.‘Praying with scripture’ or, rather, ‘prayingthrough scripture’ might be a better way oflooking at it, because Lectio Divina is away of entering into the deeper meaning ofa – usually biblical – text to discover therewhat the Spirit has to say to each of usthrough that text. The aim of LectioDivina, as with all prayer, is to draw us intothe presence of God, where we can learnto grow in our love for him and to discovermore fully what he wants – for us, from us,through us. In Lectio Divina, we do thisthrough a four-fold structure of: lectio,reading and re-reading a text; meditatio,or reflection; oratio, or prayer; and con-templatio. This structure mirrors thesoul’s pilgrimage towards God: God callsus (corresponding, in Lectio Divina, to ourreading of scripture), we assimilate his callas we meditate, we respond by asking for

God’s help to do what he calls us to, andwe end by submission in contemplation ofGod as we seek to become at one with hiswill. Lectio Divina requires no specialknowledge of scripture or any particularexperience of prayer or of ‘spirituality’ out-side what we already know: the beauty ofLectio Divina is its simplicity, which makesit available to everybody, either individual-ly or together with others.

The textThere are no rules about the choice oftext, except that it should not be too long.It is most usual to choose a text from theBible, but Lectio Divina can also offer aproductive way of exploring other religioustexts, such as an extract from one of thepatristic readings from the Office ofReadings. Some, whether undertaking

Lectio Divina as individuals, or as groupsmeeting regularly, work their way througha particular book of the Bible, or use one ofthe Mass readings for the coming Sunday.You may consider it appropriate to intro-duce Lectio Divina into your parish tocoincide with a particular season, such asLent.


Seán Murphy

Seán Murphy is a deacon of the parish ofBeckenham in the Archdiocese ofSouthwark in south London. Here helooks at ways of promoting Lectio Divinain a parish context.

Lectio Divina and the parish

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This structure mirrorsthe soul’s pilgrimagetowards God: God callsus, we assimilate hiscall, we respond, and weseek to become at onewith his will

Some people can feelhesitant about sitting inprayerful silence withothers except in church

Holy Spirit. During the period of reflectionafter the second slow reading of the text,we tend also to move towards a period oforatio as we are invited to pray silently andthen to share, if we wish, our thoughts asto how God might be calling us to respond,or as to how reflection and praying withthe text have enabled us to see somethingin our lives with a different perspective.This phase can end with prayer, silent oraloud, for those present. After the thirdreading, participants can offer any finalthoughts and ideas, before ending with ashort period of silent contemplation, of‘being’ with God. No spoken prayer iscalled for to end the session: it’s all therein the silence.

Catechesis about LectioDivinaIt is very important when introducingLectio Divina to a group that is not wellacquainted with it that participants shouldappreciate not only what Lectio Divina is,but also what it is not. Lectio Divina startsfrom the certain knowledge that all holyscripture is divinely inspired, not simply in

the sense that those who first compiled atext were guided by the Holy Spirit in whatthey wrote, but also in the sense that theHoly Spirit will likewise speak to andinspire those who open themselves to himthrough humble and prayerful submissionto the text. Much of holy scripture is not,

and was not intended to be, just a chroni-cle of what happened in history, so muchas an account of the meaning of thoseevents – in the context of salvation andeternity – a meaning that can be more fullydiscovered when the text is read, studiedand prayed with discernment. LectioDivina provides one way of finding thatmeaning, the meaning that God wisheseach one of us to discover as it applies tous as individuals and as members of theBody of Christ. Lectio Divina is not ‘BibleStudy’, in the sense of understanding thehistory or context in which a text came tobe written in the way it was, and nor is agathering of people for Lectio Divina a‘prayer group’ or a ‘discussion group’ inthe usual sense of these terms.

Nor should we expect a session of LectioDivina to offer any sudden life-transfor-mating experience. In catechising thefaithful about the introduction of LectioDivina within the Parish, it is important todiscourage any tendency there might be tohope that it will somehow unlock a door ofinstant spiritual insight and fulfilment.Lectio Divina is one of the ways Godmakes available to us to help us in the life-long process whereby, gradually, for mostof us, we accustom ourselves to hearinghis Word, inside our very being, which isthe only place where he can work on usand with us. A session of Lectio Divina canindeed offer deep rewards, but they areprayerful ones, and the satisfaction thatone has done something to help to makeoneself amenable to the call of God’s voiceand so to begin to yield to him. That said,Lectio Divina will be a new experience formost of your parishioners, and you need tobe prepared for the likelihood that somewho attend at first will feel that it is not forthem: you should not feel discouraged bythis – those who persist will surely thankyou. �


Lectio Divina and the parish – Seán Murphy

During the readings of the text, those pre-sent are invited to reflect, and then toshare with the others, words or phrases orideas from the text that have ‘spoken’ tothem as they listened. This should be aspontaneous process: nobody should feelobliged to speak if they do not feel movedto do so, so ‘going round the room’ is notthe way to do it. Some guides on LectioDivina recommend that the first readingshould be followed by complete silence,with participants invited to share thewords or phrase that inspires them onlyafter the second reading. Others invitesuch sharing after both readings. Eitherway, both readings are read slowly, with thesecond reading being delivered very slowly,broken down into phrases, so that eachword – to use the imagery employed byearly writers on Lectio Divina – can besavoured, chewed, digested. During thisprocess of reading and sharing, in which

lectio thus, in effect, merges with the peri-od of reflective meditatio, it is importantthat the session does not turn into a dis-cussion: the purpose of Lectio Divina is toallow the Holy Spirit – rather than our-selves – to speak. Sometimes – often,indeed – others present will find inspira-

tion from something that one of the othershas noticed or observed about the text,and they should not be discouraged fromsharing – briefly – their own particular fur-ther reflection: there is a world of differ-ence between the Holy Spirit speakingthrough us, and us speaking instead of the


Lectio Divina and the parish – Seán Murphy

The purpose is to allowthe Holy Spirit – ratherthan ourselves – to speak

The Holy Spirit willspeak to and inspirethose who openthemselves to himthrough humble andprayerful submission tothe text

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Inviting AuthorsNew Diaconal Review welcomes readers tosubmit articles with a view to publication

� They should be in keeping with the journal's aims, andmindful of pastoral implications. Ideas or topics for articlescan be emailed to the editors... Tony Schmitz [email protected] or Asley Beck [email protected] are happy to comment on their suitability and adviseabout word length.

� Guidelines for house-style can be found on the ThePastoral Review website, www.thepastoralreview.orgunder 'Contact us'.

� Articles should be emailed to: [email protected] or [email protected]

eviewRTheDIACONAL

1. IntroductionIn 2002, Oxford professor Philip Jenkinspublished a book on the coming of globalChristianity entitled The Next Christendom.1

In this book he tried to give an overview of

some important trends and shifts in theChristian world. In this context he also dis-cussed the impact of migration on thechurch. According to Jenkins, the far-reaching ethnic transformation of Europewas largely an accidental by-product of theCold War. In wake of the Western industri-al boom of the 1950s and 1960s it wouldhave been logical to look to the East forcheap labourers, but the ‘Iron Curtain’prevented these migration flows. Thus thefirst waves of migrant workers came fromthe South and from Africa. However, the

fall of the Berlin Wall and the accession ofEastern European countries to the EUhave now resulted in a second wave ofmigrant workers from the East to theWest.

Today, we can no longer deny that migra-tion is a core experience of the Europeansocial reality.2 The demographic changesoccurring in the context of migration havereligious consequences. The most visibleaspect has been the upsurge of mosquesand Muslim community centres. However,many migrants are Christian, and theirarrival is changing the Christian churchesas well. Some migrant communities starttheir own churches, others try to find ahome in existing, but dwindling and age-ing, Western communities. Lately, thesecommunities have grown to realise thatmigration is structurally affecting theircurrent position and future. Furthermore,they are slowly appreciating how migrationis not something ‘out there’ but somethingaffecting the whole of the community. Arecent report on the plight of migrantworkers in London described the situationof Catholic migrants as follows:

‘…a section of the Catholic communityfacing tough conditions, harsh workingconditions and constant economic andpersonal uncertainty. In many cases thisuncertainty is profoundly aggravated bythe lack of papers or legal status which isoften caused by social isolation andlanguage difficulties rather than technicalirregularity. This faithful, vulnerable andenergetic group takes their Catholicismseriously and have high hopes of theChurch and her Bishops when it comesto assistance in their days of need.’3


Richard Steenvoorde

Deacons and those involved in diaconalministry are expected to have a particularknowledge of the social doctrine of theChurch, and migration is one of the keyinternational issues addressed in thisteaching – and yet migration is usuallyrelegated to the sidelines of local churchpolicies. But with recent reports on thepastoral needs of migrants in the UK andthe public value of migrant churches’involvement in social cohesion projects inthe Netherlands, migration is back on thechurches’ agenda. Dr. RichardSteenvoorde* is a consultant for theDutch Katholiek Netwerk and a ResearchAssociate at the Von Hügel Institute, St Edmund’s College, Cambridge; hedescribes how the Catholic Church triesto respond to the challenge of migration.

2. Hopes and fearsMany of the pastoral needs of migrantsderive from the experiences upon enteringthe country. A recent publication of theIndependent Asylum Commission hasbrought some harsh experiences into pub-lic daylight (2008). The following quotesby people who have experienced theprocess help to paint a disturbing picture:

‘My appeal failed and I spent four monthshomeless and hungry. One day itbecame too much and I tried to killmyself at Leeds train station. I will neverforget the kind lady who took my handand stopped me – but I would prefer todie than to go back to Sudan’.4

‘We spent five and a half months indetention. It was extremely stressful, forme as a mother, and my young childrencried every day. Our children were lockedup like prisoners. Which type of humancould keep a child locked up all day?’5

But asylum seekers are not the only oneswho have a rough start upon entering thecountry. The following two case studies arederived from The Ground of Justicereports:

‘A young couple wanted to move fromPoland. They found details of an “agency”on the web which promised to arrange ajob and a place to stay. They arrived atLuton airport, were met, and then drivento an office, where they were asked fortheir £ 300 registration fee. They paid,and had their passports copied. Havingbeen driven to a nearby house they thenhad their bags unloaded. As they walkedtowards the door – while the driver said

Under those circumstances it is quitesurprising that the 2004 Compendium ofthe Social Teaching of the Church hardlymentions migration as a key issue facingour society and church today, and when itdoes, it does so only specifically in thecontext of political refugees (505). Yet,barely a month after the publication of thecompendium, the Pontical Council for thepastoral care of migrants and itinerantpeople issued a new instruction Ergamigrantes caritas Christi (The love of Christtowards migrants) which, according toCardinal Hamao ‘intends to be anecclesiastical response to the new pastoralneeds of migrants and lead them towardsthe transformation of their migrationexperience not only into an opportunity togrow in Christian life, but also an occasionof new evangelisation and mission’.

Until recently, specific data on the effects ofmigration and the expectations of migrantsof the church were not available. This allchanged with the 2007 groundbreakingreport The Ground of Justice by the VonHügel Institute, St Edmunds College,Cambridge. But before we can discuss thepastoral needs of migrants, let us first lookat some concrete experiences of migrantsarriving in Northern Europe.


The pastoral challenge of migration in the Northern European context

To lead them towards thetransformation of theirmigration experience notonly into an opportunity togrow in Christian life, butalso an occasion of newevangelisation and mission

Migration is notsomething ‘out there’ butsomething affecting thewhole of the community

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the systematic exploitation of sexuality.”This outlines a whole programme ofredemption and liberation from whichChristians cannot withdraw.’9

The second theme the Pope raises in thecontext of migration is the plight of youngforeign students. The Pope notices thatthese young people need special pastoralcare because they are not only students,but temporary migrants too. They oftenfeel alone under pressure of their studiesand sometimes they are also constricted byeconomic difficulties:

‘It is necessary to help them find a way toopen up to the dynamism ofinterculturality and be enriched in theircontact with other students of differentcultures and religions. For youngChristians, this study and formationexperience can be a useful area for theformation of their faith, a stimulus to beopen to the universalism that is aconstitutive element of the CatholicChurch.’10

Finally, the third theme in the papal writ-ings is the plight of the migrant family. Thedistance of family members from oneanother and unsuccessful reunificationoften result in breaking the original ties:

‘New relationships are formed and newaffections arise. Some migrants forgetthe past and their duties, as they aresubjected to the hard trial of distance andsolitude. If the migrant family is not

ensured of a real possibility of inclusionand participation, it is difficult to expectits harmonious development.’11

How should the local church respond tothese themes? Besides advocacy and rais-ing awareness of the issues pressing onmigrants and refugees, the Pope stressesthe need for both spiritual and practicalcare:

‘Aside from giving assistance capable ofhealing the wounds of the heart, pastoralcare should also offer the support of theChristian community, able to restore aculture of respect and have the true valueof love found again. It is necessary toencourage those who are interiorlywrecked to recover trust in themselves.Everything must also be done toguarantee the rights and dignity of [the]families and to assure them housingfacilities according to their needs.Refugees are asked to cultivate open andpositive attitudes towards their receivingsociety and maintain an activewillingness to accept offers to participatein building together and integratedcommunity that would be a commonhousehold’ for all.’12

In conclusion, Pope Benedict seems to bedeeply aware of the challenges thatmigrants and refugees are facing in today’sglobalising world. His special concerns arewith the feminisation of migration, youngstudents and migrant families. The churchshould not only respond practically, butalso spiritually, helping to restore the dig-nity of migrants. Reciprocally, migrants arecalled to contribute to the local communi-ty in which they are living.

3. How the local Roman Catholic churches are responding: 2 cases

Pope Benedict stressed the need for bothspiritual and practical aid to migrants andrefugees by the local church. In this sec-

The pastoral challenge of migration in the Northern European context – Richard Steenvoorde


he had to get something from the car –the man who had met them drove off athigh speed leaving them behind. At thehouse door they knew nothing about theagency. Confused and bewildered theysomehow managed to find the CatholicChurch and they are now being lookedafter.’6

‘My two Italian flatmates who arrivedrecently had a real nightmare trying toopen a bank account. They had toarrange a number of letters, go back andforth, and the whole thing was rathercomplicated. As there are so many thingsnewly arriving people do not know,

maybe the Catholic Church could gatherexpertise and knowledge of its members.For example, if a migrant wants to get ateaching job, maybe the church couldsay ‘ring parishioner X who has theexpertise and who will provide you withthe necessary information’…There arestill many Catholics like me who feel thatgoing to a Catholic Church is like joininga family, having your own community in astrange country, some place where youbelong’ 7

In general, the biggest fear amongpeople approaching the Church for helpis that expressions of solidarity by theChurch’s leadership will not be matchedby future resources and deeds on theirpart. This fear is the largest among thosemigrants who, for reasons of their legal orage status, have been excluded fromwelfare provision from both voluntary and

government sources. The reason for thismoving to the church was not blindinstitutional faith in church leadership orinstitutions but ‘concrete insights intowhat the Church had been able toachieve in other countries with minimalresources’.

So how is the church responding? We willfirst look at some important papal state-ments on the issue of migration. Then wewill look at two case studies.

2. Pope Benedict XVI: Reading the signs of the times

When studying Pope Benedict XVI’sMessages for the World Day of Migrantsand Refugees, it is important to note thatthe Pope explicitly starts from the stand-point of reading the signs of the times andnot from the perspective of doctrine ortheology. Pope Benedict recognises thecomplexity of the problem as migrationincludes both national and internationalmigration, forced and voluntary migration,legal and illegal migration and ‘the scourgeof trafficking in human beings’.8 Generallyspeaking, we can identify three majorthemes in the papal writings on migration.

The first theme is the feminization ofmigration. In the past it was mainly menwho emigrated, while women mostly emi-grated to join their husbands or fathers.Today female emigration has become moreand more autonomous. Often womenbecome the principal source of income ofher family. In this context the pope alsoraises the issue of trafficking in humanbeings destined to be exploited almost likeslaves in their work or in the sex industry:

‘Though I cannot closely examine theanalysis of the consequences of thisaspect of migration, I make my own thecondemnation voiced by John Paul IIagainst “the widespread hedonistic andcommercial culture which encourages



There are still many Catholicslike me who feel that going to aCatholic Church is like joining afamily, having your owncommunity in a strange country,some place where you belong

Concerns are with thefeminisation ofmigration, youngstudents and migrantfamilies

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This summer, a broad study was also con-ducted with regard to the public value18 ofall churches, both Catholic and Protestant,with regard to migration issues in the cityof Rotterdam, pop. 983.000 (Jan 1st2008). This report claimed that allChristian churches together save the localcouncil between 110 and 133 millioneuro’s a year with regard to psychosocialand practical care and help. Togetherthese churches manage to reach between500 and 600 thousand (!) people a year,among them many migrants, refugees andillegal aliens.19

To conclude, the picture of the care formigrants and refugees by the CatholicChurch in the Netherlands shows anincreasing focus on the local and diocesanlevel, with policies in place to encouragethe migrant communities to become partand parcel of territorial church structures.However, whether this is a wise strategyremains to be seen especially in view of thefact that only 9% of the deacons active inthe territorial structures have a specialassignment with regard to migrants and

only 2% of the parishes are in contact withspecific organisations caring for the plightof migrants.

3.2 London: migration as an inter-diocesan challengeIn response to the 2004 instruction Ergamigrantes, the bishops of the three Catholicdioceses covering London – Westminster,

Southwark and Brentwood – in May 2006commissioned a report by the Von HügelInstitute, St Edmunds College, Cambridgeto find out the needs of migrants in London.The results of this project (analysing justunder 1000 mass going migrants) were published a year later and caused a mediauproar. The report found that illegalmigrants form an increasing share of thecongregations. It showed that more than75% of parishioners in at least three parish-es were “irregularly” in the country. Butwhat made this report far more interestingwas the fact that it had identified pastoralneeds from the perspective of the migrantsthemselves and their own understandingand interpretation of their current situation.

In view of the challenging work and livingconditions nearly 40% of the surveyedmigrants expressed feelings of depression.Many are looking for places to be ‘at home’and for solidarity. Parish life can act as acounterpoint to this but it can also domuch wrong:

‘In one parish migrants were far andaway the largest group and yet were“hectored” about their need to“integrate” with an “indigenous”congregation that had essentiallycollapsed. On a few occasions some“indigenous” clergy had handed out longlectures on what it meant to be amigrant, the failings of ethnic chaplainsand again trenchantly reiterated the needfor “integration”. There were repeatedreports of some “indigenous” Catholics –lay, ordained and even in the Episcopate– making disparaging comments aboutforms of Catholicism at variance with the“English theological norm”…’20

What do migrants expect from theirchurch? First and foremost 77% of theinterviewed migrants expected and hoped that the church would help them tobecome more integrated into local society.This could be done in the following



tion, we will look at two illustrative casestudies of the church’s response to thechallenge of migration in the Netherlandsand in London. These are meant as illus-trations and are not the last word on thedevelopments in either situation.

3.1 The Netherlands: migration asa local responsibilityThe pastoral care for migrants in theDutch Catholic Church started in the1920s with the arrival of Italian and Polishmigrant miners in the diocese ofRoermond. In 1975 two national organisa-tions were established, one focusing on thepastoral needs of migrants and one on thepractical needs. In 2000 both organisa-tions were merged into the CuraMigrantorium foundation. A few yearslater, the Dutch bishops’ conferencedecided that the care for asylum seekersand migrants should primarily be a dioce-san responsibility. As a result the CuraMigrantorium was dismantled.

Currently there are some 50 migrantparishes in the country that reach out to –

according to their own estimates – 37.000migrants.13 Recently, the central focus ofdiocesan policies towards migrant church-es has become integrating these migrantcommunities within the existing territorialparishes and structures. Territorial con-gregations are suspicious of this proposed

integration, fearing a loss of local customsin pastoral care. Migrant congregations aresuspicious of a loss of identity and questionwhether the locals are ‘real Catholics’ atall.14

This development within the Dutchchurch coincided with larger trends insociety. Whereas in the 1970s the focuswas very much on the formation of nation-al platforms, the last two decades saw ashift towards funding policies favouringlocal organisations. As a result mostnational organisations have ceased toexist, although some of them are part of aloose network called ‘Urban Mission’.There exists no national Caritas network.The international development aid part ofCaritas is carried out by the Catholicdevelopment aid organisation Cordaid.

Recently, some empirical material hasbecome available with regard to the diaconalinvolvement of the church with migrantsand asylum seekers as part of a larger surveyinto the impact of the diaconate of localchurches in the battle against poverty. Tobegin with, there exist 1.124 Catholic parishCaritas associations and St. Vincent de Paulsocieties. Yet, only 9% of the RomanCatholic parishes have identified a deaconwith – amongst others – special responsibil-ities towards refugees and migrants.15 Morestrikingly even is the fact that only 2% of allChristian (both the Catholic and Protestant)diaconal organisations had direct contactwith NGOs caring for the plight of asylumseekers and refugees.16

On average 12,2 appeals are made per car-itas organisation for diaconal assistance. Ofthese, 10,2 appeals are honoured. The esti-mated total sum of Catholic local Caritasinvolvement has been calculated asbetween C=4.326.324 and C=6.105.570.Asylum seekers rank third amongst thoseseeking the help of the church (after sin-gle parents and long-termed unemployedpersons).17



Only 9% of the RomanCatholic parishes haveidentified a deacon with– amongst others –special responsibilitiestowards refugees andmigrants

77% of the migrantsinterviewed hoped thatthe church would helpthem to become moreintegrated into localsociety

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issue. The United Kingdom failed to men-tion migration at all within the context ofpoverty reduction. National Caritas organ-isations had been consulted with regard tothis issue, but the findings had also beenleft out of the NAP. 21

Caritas Europa is also effectively lobbyingthe European institutions. During thePortuguese presidency of the EU, a Caritas delegation met Pedro Silva Pereira,then minister of the Portuguese presiden-cy. Martina Liebsch, president of theCaritas Europa Migration Commission,advocated an integral approach that wouldallow for safe and legal channels of labour

migration into the European Union. Shealso warned that ‘undesired migrationcannot be prevented through restrictivemeasures, but only through creating jobsand decent living and working conditionsin countries of origin.’22

Caritas Europa is not the only presence ofthe Church in Brussels. The Commissionof the Bishops’ Conferences of theEuropean Union (COMECE) regularlyintervenes in the public debate with regardto European migration and asylum poli-cies. This is often done together with otherchurches and with other Christian advoca-cy networks in Brussels. Their activitiesrange from broad statements to specificlobbying interventions focusing on thedetails and effect of policies such as theissue of administrative detention in asylumprocedures.23

Last but not least we should mention herethe activities of Jesuit Refugee Service24

and the international priory of theDominicans in Brussels who through theirpractical aid, high level informal networksand through regular study programmes,such as Espace25, contribute to public pol-icy making and a better understanding andpractice in response to the of the historicalchallenge and practical consequences ofmigration in the Europe context.

5. Conclusions: ThePastoral Challenge ofMigration

Migration is one of the biggest issues fac-ing Europe. It is also one of the biggestchallenges facing the churches in Europe.It is a very complicated issue that reacheseven into the core of the Catholic experi-ence, celebrating the Eucharist, wherestrong demands for the availability of theMass in migrants languages are challeng-ing the idea of territorial parishes cateringfor all living within the bounds of theparish.

In the Netherlands the church lacks anational strategy for dealing with thedemands of migration. The Bishops’Conference has delegated this responsibil-ity to each local diocese. A national NGOthat could address this issue is lacking. Asa result, church involvement with migra-tion is sporadic, local and incidental. Thatis not the whole picture though; interna-tionally the effectiveness of the DutchBishops’ Conference on migration withinthe larger European context seemsimpressive. But this can be explained bythe fact that the bishop of Rotterdam, Dr.Adriaan van Luyn, bishop of the largestmigration city, is also the president ofCOMECE and thereby actively involved inlobbying Brussels with regard to migrationand asylum policies.

In London there is now a reasonably ade-quate understanding of the needs of the



concrete ways:

� provide welfare services (64%)

� help people to find jobs (58%)

� provide access to legal advice onwork, financial and immigration mat-ters (53%)

� provide English classes (53%)

� help to find low cost accommodation(39%)

But what about ‘spirituality’ and ‘spiritual’matters? It turned out that under theseharsh conditions people regarded worshipas a source of solace and comfort, inspira-tional preaching was appreciated and com-mitted clergy vital. However, other specificdemands for ‘spirituality’ were not found.

The report ended with the perspective ofclergy who are in the forefront of modernmigration. The main point here being thatthey were in a situation for which theywere ‘neither trained nor did they knowwhere to turn to for training or help if thethought of it occurs at all’. In practice thishas led to some particular problems.Firstly, ethnic chaplaincies often feelpatronised by local churches. Secondly,the quality of the ethnic pastors can vary,overseas appointments being regardedeither as highly prestigious, or as a ‘demo-tion’. Thirdly, especially priests seem to bethe ‘first port of call’, but they do not knowwhere to turn for help those who turn tothem.

The Ground of Justice report ended withmany practical recommendations which arecurrently being studied. They ranged fromallocating financial resources, developingcommon policies between the dioceses,bringing in policy experts to reflect on thecurrent effects of legislation in the migrantcommunities, to prophetic preaching.

4. In the meantime in Brussels…

Much of the legislation affecting migrantsin both the Netherlands and the UnitedKingdom has been directly or indirectlyaffected by legislation and directives fromBrussels. One of the key influences comesfrom the process through which countrieswere obliged to write National SocialInclusion Strategies as part of the imple-mentation of the Lisbon strategy. TheLisbon strategy was formulated in 2000with the aim of making the EU “the mostdynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable ofsustainable economic growth with moreand better jobs and greater social cohe-sion, and respect for the environment by2010.

In 2005 the European Commission (DGEmployment, Social Affairs and Equalopportunities) opened up a civil dialoguewith civic society networks that work inthe field of poverty reduction. One of thenetworks involved was Caritas Europa, theEuropean network of national Caritas

organizations active in 44 European coun-tries. In March 2007, it published an inter-im report assessing the National SocialInclusion Strategies.

It turned out that only eight membercountries of the European Union haveaddressed the issue of the needs ofmigrants as a policy priority within theirNational Action Plans. Others mentionedmigration in passing or as a cross cutting



The United Kingdomfailed to mentionmigration at all withinthe context of povertyreduction

Undesired migration cannot be prevented throughrestrictive measures, but onlythrough creating jobs anddecent living and workingconditions in countries oforigin M

inis

try

of C

arit

as

Pope Benedict XVI— Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI

for the 92nd World Day of Migrants andRefugees (2006): Migrations: a sign ofthe times

— Message of His Holiness Benedict XVIfor the 93rd World Day of Migrants andRefugees (2007): The Migrant Family

— Message of His Holiness Benedict XVIfor the 94th World Day of Migrants andRefugees (2008): Young Migrants

— Werkgroep Eenheid met Identiteit,Kairos. De tijd is rijp. Uitdagingenvoor migrantenparochies en terrirori-ale parochies in de Nederlandse R.-K.Kerk, rkkerk.nl, maart 2007.

* Dr. Richard Steenvoorde’s doctoratefocussed on the impact of globalisation onthe regulation of international economicrelations (R.A.J. Steenvoorde, RegulatoryTransformations in International EconomicRelations [Nijmegen 2008: WLP, ISBN 978-90-5850-351-0]).

1 P. Jenkins, The Next Christendom, Thecoming of global Christianity (Oxford:Oxford University Press 2002).

2 European Public Value 2007, p. 393 The Ground of Justice 2007.4 Independent Asylum Commission, Fit

for purpose yet?, a national review ofthe UK asylum system in associationwith the Citizen OrganisingFoundation, London: 2008, p. 39

5 IAC, p. 61

6 The Ground of Justice at 2.27 The Ground of Justice at 6.28 Message of his Holiness Benedict XVI

for the 92nd World Day of Migrantsand Refugees (2006), at www.vati-can.va

9 Message of his Holiness Benedict XVIfor the 92nd World Day of Migrantsand Refugees (2006).

10 Message of his Holiness Benedict XVIfor the 94th World Day of Migrantsand Refugees (2008), www.vatican.va

11 Message of his Holiness Benedict XVIfor the 93rd World Day of Migrantsand Refugees (2007), www.vatican.va

12 Message of his Holiness Benedict XVIfor the 93rd World Day of Migrantsand Refugees (2007), www.vatican.va

13 To compare: if we take the data fromthe research in Rotterdam alone, thecombined churches reaching at least500.000 people, 12% being RCchurches, the RC figure, forRotterdam alone, should have been atleast 60.000.

14 Kairos. De tijd is rijp15 Armoede in Nederland 2008, p. 18.16 Armoede in Nederland 2008, p. 29.17 Armoede in Nederland 2008, p. 27.18 Kerk in Actie, a.o., Armoede in

Nederland 2008, Onderzoek naarfinanciële hulpverlening door dia-conieën, parochiële caritas instellin-gen en andere kerkelijke organisatiesin Nederland, Kerk in Actie, Utrecht2008

19 Tel je zegeningen 200820 Ground of justice, section 5.121 European Public Value 2007, p. 40.22 Caritas Europa: migration reform

begins at home, www.zenit.org 2007-06-22

23 COMECE, Return Directive: The deepconcern of Churches and ChristianOrganisations, May 30th 2008,www.comece.org.

24 www.jrs.net25 www.espaces.info



migrant communities in the Church. Thechallenge now lies in the Church’sresponse to these needs. Will the threedioceses be able to come up with a jointstrategy that adequately addresses theneeds and will this be backed up by amplefinancial and personnel resources? Willthese efforts also spread to other diocesesbeyond London and can the Catholic bishops make plausible stand on behalf ofthe excluded in the national and Europeanpublic debate?

In conclusion, many migrants andrefugees flock to the Church in hope offinding Christ and a community that wel-

comes them and will care for them, prac-tically and spiritually. At every level theChurch is now being challenged by apressing situation to come up with strate-gies that move beyond words of solidaritywith migrants and refugees into adequateresources and deeds. For, as far as weknow it, Christ might very well dwellamong them, as the gospel of St Matthew25:35 reminds us: ‘For I was hungry, andyou gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and yougave me to drink; I was a stranger, and youtook me in.’ �

Literature• Pontifical Council for Justice andPeace, Compendium of the Social Doctrineof the Church, Libreria Editruce Vaticana,2004.• D. Atkinson, D. Field (eds.), NewDictionary of Christian Ethics andPastoral Theology, Leicester, InterVarsitypress 1995• F. Davis, J. Rossiter, J. Stankevicute,European Public Value and the CaritasSocial Vision. An interim assessment ofEurope’s National Social InclusionStrategies, Von Hügel Institute, StEdmunds College, Cambridge (February2007)• F. Davis, J. Stankeviciute, R. Kaggwa,The Ground of Justice. The report of aPastoral Inquiry into the Needs ofMigrants in London’s CatholicCommunity, a publication of the VonHügel Institute, Centre for Faith inSociety, Migration and Itinerant PeoplesGroup, Cambridge (2007)• European Commission, SpecialEurobarometer, Poverty and Exclusion, no279, Wave 67.1, Brussels 2007• J. Castillo Guerra, M. Glashouwer, J.Kregting, Tel je zegeningen. Hetmaatschappelijk rendement van chris-telijke kerken in Rotterdam en hun bij-drage aan sociale cohesie, Nijmegen: NIM1st July 2008• Independent Asylum Commission, Fitfor purpose yet?, A national review of theUK asylum system in association with theCitizen Organising Foundation, London:2008Kerk in Actie, a.o., Armoede in Nederland2008, Onderzoek naar financiële hulpver-lening door diaconieën, parochiële caritasinstellingen en andere kerkelijke organ-isaties in Nederland, Kerk in Actie,Utrecht 2008• Pontifical Council for the PastoralCare of Migrants and Itinerant People,Instruction Erga Migrtantes CaritasChristi, Roman Curia, Rome 2004



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Can the Catholic bishopsmake plausible stand onbehalf of the excluded inthe national andEuropean public debate?

‘For I was hungry, andyou gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and yougave me to drink; I wasa stranger, and you tookme in.’St Matthew 25:35

the basic texts with his own brief commen-tary and analysis. The Introduction is a dis-tillation of his Christian Social Witness andTeaching: the Catholic Tradition fromGenesis to Centesimus Annus, (Leominster1998), volume 1, From Biblical Times tothe late Nineteenth Century and volume 2,

The Modern Social Teaching: Contexts:Summaries: Analysis. These volumes pro-vide a comprehensive and indispensablesurvey of the whole tradition of socialteaching: sometimes we easily think ofsocial teaching as something purely fromthe last century or so, but Charles exploresin great depth the tradition from the scrip-tures right through the whole of Christiantheology and history. My only criticism con-cerns one or two of Charles’ own judge-ments in his comments, where he is verycautious about possible conflict betweenCatholics and the State over some aspectsof social teaching, for example, with regardto nuclear weapons. It seems to me that associal teaching ‘matures’, to borrow thephrase he himself uses, it is inevitable, par-ticularly in societies which are abandoningconventional religious belief and practice,that we will be brought into more and more

conflict with the State. This is borne out inthe way in which studies in ecclesiologyitself are developing, particularly from the‘Radical Orthodoxy’ school (see the bookby Cavanaugh referred to at the end of thisarticle). We can see much less of this cau-tion in recent documents from theMagisterium itself.

‘Official’ Catholic SocialTeaching (‘CST’)Basic textsThe basis of ‘official’ social teaching arethe key papal encylicals of the last hun-dred years or so, readily available in book-let form published by the Vatican Press,the Catholic Truth Society, St Paul publi-cations, Veritas and other outlets: LeoXIII, Rerum Novarum (1891), Pius XI,Quadragesimo Anno, Blessed John XXIII,Mater et Magistra (1961) and Pacem inTerris (1964), Paul VI, PopulorumProgressio (1967) and the letter writtenafter the 1971 Synod of Bishops,Octagesima Adveniens, and John Paul II,Laborem Exercens (1979), Sollicitudo ReiSocialis (1987) and Centesimus Annus(1991). At the same time, many otherpapal writings address themes of socialteaching, such as Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae(1968) – in relation to the link betweenpoverty and the size of families – and manyof the letters of John Paul II particularlythose written before, during and after theJubilee year 2000. We can see very clearsigns of development – in particular thereis a progressively more positive view of therole of state in providing for the poorest.The early encyclicals of Benedict XVI, par-ticularly Deus Caritas Est, root theChurch’s ministry of love in the life of thewhole Catholic community.


The Basic Norms of Formation forPermanent Deacons published ten

years ago by the Holy See makes it clearthat deacons, in their studies in MoralTheology, should have a ‘special’ knowl-edge of the social doctrine of the Church;elsewhere the deacon is called on to ‘trans-form the world according to the Christianorder’. It is therefore disturbing that thispart in moral teaching has not alwaysplayed a big part of diaconate formationprogrammes (or, in some cases, any at all)or that many deacons seem to know noth-ing at all about it, although they are noworse in this than many priests. It hasbecome rather a cliché to claim that thesocial teaching of the Church is its ‘bestkept secret’, but this gap among those whoare meant to be experts has ensured thatthe secret in some places is still firmlyunder wraps. While a great deal has beendone to remedy this, it is still the case thatthere is in our communities both igno-rance of this branch of moral theology, anda sustained, deliberate and deep-rootedrefusal to take it seriously, among clergy,laypeople and the Catholic press.

This survey aims to outline for our readerssome of the most important material pub-lished in English in recent years. It is nowcustomary for writings to be divided intothree categories with distinctive abbrevia-tions:

(i) Catholic Social Teaching (‘CST’) –the official teaching as laid out in papalencyclicals, together with documents fromthe Council, curial departments and

Bishops’ Conferences; (ii) Catholic Social Thought (‘CathST’)– material which gives the philosophical andtheoretical underpinning to all the elementsof the teaching; and(iii) Catholic Non-Official Social Teach-ing (‘CNOST’) – reflections from theolo-gians and organisations within the Churchwhich do not claim official sanction orauthority.

Introductions andreference worksThe most comprehensive reference workin English is The New Dictionary ofCatholic Social Thought in the MichaelGlazier series of dictionaries and ency-clopaedias, edited by Judith A. Dwyer(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1994). Theonly limitation for readers in northern

Europe is that it is written from a veryclear American perspective.

In Britain one of the foremost authoritieson social teaching is Fr Rodger Charles SJat Campion Hall in Oxford. HisIntroduction to Catholic Social Teaching(Oxford: Family publications 1999) pro-vides an accessible way into the topic, anda Study Guide was produced by the samepublishers in 2001. Charles looks at socialteaching through the two key headings ofEthics and Civil Society and Ethics andEconomic Society; he gives extracts from


Ashley Beck

Ashley Beck is a priest in the parish ofBeckenham in the Archdiocese ofSouthwark and co-editor of the NewDiaconal Review. He is Chair of theConference of Diaconate Directors andDeacon Delegates for England and Walesand Dean of Studies of the PermanentDiaconate Formation Programme for ninedioceses in southern England and Wales

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It is inevitable, particularlyin societies which areabandoning conventionalreligious belief and practice,that we will be brought intomore and more conflict withthe State

This survey aims to outline forour readers some of the mostimportant material published inEnglish in recent years

What should Deacons read?

The Common Good and the CatholicChurch’s Social Teaching, published at theend of 1996, was the most important inter-vention in any British Election campaignby the Christian community in livingmemory. It became a best-seller and gave aconcise introduction to the themes ofCatholic teaching and applied them rigor-ously to concerns in public life and some ofthe key issues in the election campaign.The document was a best seller andattracted controversy and immense inter-est in all the churches – talks and studygroups were set up all over the country. AStudy guide was published and a paralleldocument applied its insights to educa-tion, The Common Good in Education(Catholic Education Service 1997). In the2001 election campaign the bishops pub-lished a brief document looking at a slight-ly different set of issues, Vote for theCommon Good, and on Palm Sunday 2005an even shorter pastoral letter was sent toall Catholic parishes on the same themebefore the General Election. Theseauthoritative publications have done agreat deal to dispel ignorance of Catholic

social teaching, and the bishops have beencriticised for their efforts, a sure sign thatthey are being effective.

They have looked in more detail at specif-ic issues. For example, A Spirituality ofWork was issued in 2001, linking classicteaching about the dignity of human

labour with the Christian’s prayer life. In2002 the bishops issued The Call ofCreation – God’s Invitation and theHuman Response, which looked at envi-ronmental concerns, sometimes seen as a‘poor relation’ in social teaching. In 2004alone they published three very importantteaching documents: Cherishing Life,which makes clear the all-important linksbetween what are usually called ‘lifeissues’ and everything else the Churchteaches about human dignity; Taxation forthe Common Good, which looks at thewhole area of taxation in the light of socialteaching; and A Place of Redemption, adamning critique of prevailing attitudestowards crime and punishment and thestate of Britain’s prisons. Earlier this year anew document was published by theCommittee for Migrants and Refugees,chaired by the Bishop Pat Lynch SS.CC,The Mission of the Church to Migrants inEngland and Wales (London: CTS 2008).

These documents root social teaching inpresent-day political realities: moreoverthe bishops teach with authority, using theexpertise of many laypeople and drawingon the work of Catholics in these fieldsover many years. Applying the insights ofmoral teaching to specific issues is anexample of ‘getting your hands dirty’ – andit is impossible to do this without attractingcriticism from the rich and the powerful.

In Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands andother European countries similar documentsare published by Bishops’ Conferences.

These documents should be supplement-ed by statements from the Holy See andBishops’ Conferences about Europe. It isquite clear that based on our commitmentto international peace and the key socialdoctrine concepts of solidarity and sub-sidiarity, the Catholic Church is firmlycommitted to European unity and integra-tion. The Church supports the commonpolitical institutions of the European

There are additional texts which areimportant in the development of socialteaching and the most significant isGaudium et Spes, the Second VaticanCouncil’s Pastoral Constitution on theChurch and the Modern World, issued atthe end of the Council in December 1965.In addition to papal and Council docu-ments, material is being published all thetime by curial departments covering issuessuch as the treatment of refugees, racism,the arms trade, and the ethics of advertis-ing. Many of these documents are pub-lished separately and cheaply by theCatholic Truth Society and can be orderedfrom their website, www.cts.org.uk.

Magisterial collections and theCompendiumA feature of social teaching in recent yearshas been a process of codification by thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace –official collections of key texts. The SocialAgenda of the Catholic Church, edited byRobert A. Sirico and Marciej Zieba(English ed., Burns and Oates 2000) is avery helpful and clear thematic arrange-ment of key texts under various headings.

The most important recent event in socialteaching studies was the publication inEnglish in 2005 (following the issue of theLatin edition a year earlier) of theCompendium of the Social Doctrine of theCatholic Church (London: Burns andOates 2005) – the launching of this publi-cation attracted very little attention at thetime in England, a sign of the lack of inter-est in this field. It is designed to be paral-lel to the Catechism of the Catholic Churchand is laid out in the same way. It is divid-ed into three parts: Part one is the ‘theo-logical dimension’. It details key principlesand the background of social doctrine –for example, the place of the human per-son, Christ as the fulfilment of God’s plan,the Church’s affirmation of human rights,and fundamental principles such as soli-darity and subsidiarity. Part two looks at

specific issues: the family, human work,economic life, the political community,the international community, the environ-ment and the promotion of peace. Thethird part looks more briefly at how socialdoctrine should be integrated into theChurch’s mission. This Compendium willprove to be an invaluable source book andit is assertive in its placing of social teach-ing at the heart of Catholic life. For clergyand catechists it should be essential read-ing and should form the basis of a dea-con’s formation in this topic. There is onemajor criticism one could make: in thethird part the document looks at those in

the Church who should be pioneering theintegration of social doctrine into theChurch’s life – bishops, priests, religious,catechists, other laypeople….but there isabsolutely no reference to permanentdeacons. This is startling in view of whatother dicasteries of the Holy See are say-ing and should be remedied in any futureedition. For the text of three lectures givento deacons in ongoing formation as anintroduction to the Compendium go to thewebsite of the Archdiocese of Southwark,www.rcsouthwark.org and follow thediaconate links.

‘Local’ Catholic SocialTeachingCatholic Social Teaching is meant to beapplied to definite historical situations. InEngland and Wales in recent years theBishops Conference has published invalu-able documents which apply its insights:


What should Deacons read? – Ashley BeckWhat should Deacons read? – Ashley Beck

Material is being publishedall the time by curialdepartments covering issuessuch as the treatment ofrefugees, racism, the armstrade, and the ethics ofadvertising

The Common Good and theCatholic Church’s SocialTeaching, published at theend of 1996, was the mostimportant intervention inany British Electioncampaign by the Christiancommunity in living memory

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lished by agencies like CAFOD, Progressio(formerly CIIR) and Pax Christi is in thiscategory. It also includes works from 20thcentury figures such as Dorothy Day (andcontinuing material from the CatholicWorker movement) and Thomas Merton.

In this category should be included acade-mic research about issues covered bysocial teaching – not necessarily fromCatholic sources. In our critique of west-ern societies which are structurally sinfuland unjust we need to have accurate infor-mation – in relation to immigration, arma-ments, and levels of poverty and affluence.With regard to poverty and affluence in

Britain an outstanding book has recentlybeen published: Unjust Rewards by PollyToynbee and David Walker (London:Granta 2008). With detailed evidence itshows how the gap between rich and poorhas widened appallingly in the Blair-Brown years, and also exposes a shockinglevel of ignorance among the rich abouthow others live. If deacons are seriousabout ‘transforming the world according tothe Christian order’ they need to knowhow dire the situation is.

I would like to conclude by pinpointing twobooks which are really from the ‘CNOST’stable, often overlooked. I referred aboveto Fr Charles’ caution about nuclearweapons, but the best and most thoroughstatement of the moral case against deter-rence – one of the most important moralissues in Britain today – is still a book writ-ten before the end of the Cold War:

Nuclear Deterrence, Morality and Realismby John Finnis, Joseph Boyle and GermainGrisez. (Oxford: Clarendon 1987) Theauthors are usually perceived as comingfrom a conservative standpoint in moraltheology, so their trenchant critique bothof US and NATO policies and of some ofthe Church’s weak efforts to questionthose policies (such as those of the USCatholic bishops) is the more powerful.The book is a critique of consequentialism,similar to John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor.Social teaching has been forthright inabsolute condemnation of the use of tor-ture, which is a big issue for Europeancountries in relation to the so-called ‘waron terror’ and American policies; at thesame time there is a vigorous debate aboutthe place of human rights in our teaching.William T. Cavanaugh’s book Torture andEucharist (Oxford: Blackwell 1998) is apowerful reflection on the reactions of theChurch in Chile in the Pinochet years tothe use of torture by the regime, in termsof the Church’s self-understanding andtheology of the Eucharist. Cavanaughexamines the resistance to the Pinochetregime by the Church in Chile in the lightof its ecclesiology and shows how it hadbeen impeded by a view of Church-staterelations, derived from the teachings ofJacques Maritain, which handed overeffective control over people’s bodies andsouls to the power of the nation-state: inthe face of persecution the Churchbecame an effective centre of resistance,and in many respects this was centred onthe celebration of the Eucharist. The bookshows how important it is to integratesocial teaching, rooted in harsh politicalrealities, with ecclesiology and sacramen-tal theology – I would see the book as oneof the most important theological works ofthe last decade.

This article is based on a ‘Catholic SocialTeaching Chronicle’ originally publishedin The Pastoral Review, January/February 2006. �


Union, and has supported strongly, forexample, economic integration made con-crete by the adoption of the Euro, and theexpansion of the union into EasternEurope; the Church is also critical of‘fortress Europe’ policies in relation tomigration and unjust trade policiestowards developing countries. In Englandand Wales and Scotland the journalBriefing, published by the Bishops’Conferences, used to provide (until itceased publication) a good source forstatements from bishops about Europe,and material can still be found on theonline archive accessible fromwww.catholic-ew.org.uk. The umbrellagroup for Bishops’ Conferences in Europe,COMECE, provides the best source forthis continuing work and their materialcan be found on www.comece.org. Morecan also be found on the website of theecumenical agency Faith in Europe,www.faithineurope.org.uk and the Jesuitoffice in Brussels, www.ocipe.info. Oneway in which the Church has furtheredEuropean unity and integration has beenthrough the naming of six men andwomen as patron saints of Europe by PaulVI and John Paul II. For a brief survey oftheir lives and the connection betweenthem and the Church’s social vision forEurope see Ashley Beck, Europe’s Souland Her Patron Saints (London: CTS2007). Some standard works on contem-porary European history and economics,such as Hugo Young, This Blessed Plot(London: Macmillan 1998) and WillHutton, The World We’re In (London:Little Brown, 2002) make the same linkbetween Catholic social teaching and thedevelopment of the European Union. Thislink is exemplified by the life of the found-ing father of European unity, the Frenchstatesman Robert Schuman. This perspec-tive on social teaching is particularlyimportant in northern Europe at presentbecause of the pervasive and malign anti-Europeanism in the political arena and inthe press.

Catholic Social Thought(‘CathST’)In the last forty years there has been anenormous debate about the theoreticalbasis for social teaching. How has it faredsince the Council? Has it got a future?Since the Church has changed so muchsince the days of Leo XIII and Pius XI, isthe way of imparting social teaching bymeans of large scale social encyclicals stilleffective? What is the relationship withsecular moral philosophy – how do we bestuse traditional concepts such as naturallaw? Is social teaching Eurocentric? Theseand many other questions are thoroughlyexamined in J. S. Boswell, F. P. McHughand J. Verstraeten (eds.) Catholic SocialThought: Twilight or Renaissance?(Leuven: University Press 2000), a collec-tion of the proceedings of a seminar inCambridge in April 1999. The collectioncomprises 18 essays from leading figuresfrom all over the world, and gives an excel-lent survey of present academic issues.While it is a collection written for those inacademic life (three of the articles are inFrench) most readers with a rudimentaryknowledge of the subject would find ithelpful. Two of the best contributions areJulie Clague’s tackling of the place ofhuman rights in social thought in the lightof the well-known dismissal of their impor-tance in Macintyre’s After Virtue, andFrank McHugh’s ‘Muddle or Middle-level?A Place for Natural Law in Catholic SocialThought’ which looks positively at the rela-tionship between reliance on natural lawand the biblical foundations for socialteaching. Many footnotes in the essayspoint the reader towards important workson the various subjects covered, so the col-lection is a very good ‘way in’ to the field.

Catholic ‘Non-official’Social Teaching (‘CNOST’)The tradition has always been enriched byreflections and theological work from ‘non-official’ sources, and the whole tradition ofLiberation Theology and material pub-


What should Deacons read? – Ashley Beck

With detailed evidenceit shows how the gapbetween rich and poorhas widened appallinglyin the Blair-Brown years

What should Deacons read? – Ashley Beck

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Preliminary NoteThe International Theological Commis-sion has already, during its preceding quin-qennium (1992-1997), undertaken a the-matic study on the diaconate. This workwas carried out by a sub-commissioncharged with analysing several ecclesiolog-ical questions. This sub-commission waschaired by Msgr Max Thurian and wascomposed of the following members:Cardinal Christoph Schönborn OP,Cardinal Joseph Osei-Bonsu, ReverendCharles Acton, Msgr Giuseppe Colombo,Msgr Joseph Doré PSS, Professor GostaHallonsten, Reverend Fr Stanislaw NagySCI, Reverend Henrique de NoronhaGalvao.

Given, however, that this sub-commissionwas unable to take its work as far as the

production of a text, the study wasresumed in the course of the followingquinquennium, building on the workalready accomplished thus far. To achievethis, a new sub-commission was formed,chaired by Reverend Henrique deNoronha Galvao and composed ofReverend Santiago del Cura Elena,Reverend Pierre Gaudette, Msgr Roland

Minnerath, Mgsr Gerhard Ludwig Muller,Mgsr Luis Antonio G Tagle, and ReverendLadislaus Vanyo. General discussion onthis theme unfolded in the course ofnumerous meetings of the sub-commis-sion as well as during the plenary sessionsof the Commission itself held in Romefrom 1998 to 2002. The present text hasbeen approved in forma specifica by aunanimous vote of the Commission on the30th September 2002 and it has subse-quently been submitted to its president,Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, Prefect of theCongregation of the Doctrine of the Faith,who authorised its publication.

International TheologicalCommissionIntroductionWith a view to a renewal of the Churchand a desire to find more effective ways ofproclaiming and presenting the mystery ofJesus Christ the Second Vatican Councilsought inspiration in her origins and histo-ry. Amongst the riches of the Church discovered there was the ministry of thediaconate to which the texts of the NewTestament testify: a ministry that renderedsignificant service to the life of Christiancommunities, above all in the days of theearly Church. Falling into decline inmedieval times the diaconate [virtually]disappeared as a permanent ministry [inthe West] (translators brackets) survivingonly as a transitional step on the way to the


Tony Schmitz

The Diaconate – Perspectives onits Development

Falling into decline inmedieval times thediaconate [virtually]disappeared as apermanent ministry [in the West]

The NDR here presents the firstinstalment of a fresh (and for the first timecomplete) translation into English of TheInternational Theological Commission’simportant Historico-Theological ResearchDocument originally published in Frenchin 2002. Tony Schmitz is a deacon of thediocese of Aberdeen and co-editor of theNew Diaconal Review. He is Director ofFormation for the Permanent Diaconatefor the dioceses of Scotland and Directorof the Ogilvie Institute for ReligiousEducation and Formation in Aberdeen.

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Nelleke Wijngaards SerrarensPartners in SolidarityWives of Deacons

Published, 2006, A. vanNieuwenaarlaan 10, 6824 ANArnhem, The Netherlands

This book is the findings of an internation-al research project conducted by NellekeWijngaards Serranens, a well known fig-ure in the world of diaconate formationand support. With her husband DeaconAloys Wijngaards she has been involved indiaconate formation in the Archdioceseand University of Utrecht for many years.

This is an invaluable study of the placeof deacons’ wives in many of our diocesesin northern Europe. Since 2001 theauthor has been the representative of dea-cons’ wives on the Board of theInternational Diaconate Study Centre(IDC) and the research in this documentstems from that role, coming from theUnited Kingdom, the Netherlands and

Germany. This research balances similarfindings from other parts of the world,such as the surveys of deacons’ wives inthe United States in James Keating’srecent book The Deacon Reader.

The study looks at the effect of ordina-tion on a deacon’s family life, on differingexpectations of the ordained ministry, andon the ways in which wives support andcollaborate with their husbands. It exam-ines both positive and negative effects andthe varying levels of support available towives in dioceses. There is a useful con-cluding section giving reflections from theperspective of social sciences. This is veryuseful report which should be read notonly by deacons and their wives but bybishops and diaconate directors and for-mators. The author has done furtherresearch on the pastoral care of deacons’widows.

Ashley Beck


Book review

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faith, her response to divine Revelation.Scripture, together with Tradition, the sov-ereign rule of faith (DV 21), gives us themystery and the mission of Christ in a lan-guage that is living and often symbolic, alanguage that speculative theology in particular tries to interpret with rigour. Weshould not, however, forget that, in all its forms, theological language alwaysremains analogical, the ultimate criterionof which rests in its capacity to speak thetruth of Revelation. The regula fidei is theregula veritatis. The research presentedhere has sought to attend to the differ-

ences characterising the ministry of thediaconate in the course of the diverse peri-ods of its history and which even today stillprovoke debate. The reflection that is herepresented is based on a lively awareness ofthe gift bestowed by Jesus Christ on hisChurch when he handed on to the Twelvea particular responsibility for accomplish-ing the mission that he himself hadreceived from the Father. The Spirit alwaysallows the Church to discover the richesGod puts at her disposal, thus always wit-nessing anew to his fidelity to the plan ofsalvation he offers us in his Son. It isthrough his condition as Servant, throughthe very service assumed in obedience tothe Father, for the sake of humankind, thataccording to Scripture and Tradition JesusChrist has realised the divine plan of sal-vation. It is only by basing ourselves on thisprimary Christological datum that we cancome to understand the vocation and mis-

sion of diakonia in the Church, mademanifest in her various ministries. It is inthis light that we ask ourselves firstly whatis the historical and theological meaning ofthe ministry of deacons in the course ofthe history of the Church and what werethe reasons for its disappearance? Onlythen, finally can we ask about the impor-tance and implications of the introductionin our day of a diaconal ministry that iseffective and at the service of the Christiancommunity.

Chapter One From the Diakonia of Christ to theDiakonia of the Apostles

I The Diakonia of Christ and Christian existence

The most inconceivable revolution hascome about through the incarnation of theWord who is God and through whomeverything was made (cf. Jn 1:1-18). TheKyrios, the Lord, becomes the Diakonos,the Servant, of all. The Lord God comes tomeet us in his Servant Jesus Christ, onlySon of God (Rom 1:3), who, though being‘in the form of God’ (morphe theou), yet‘did not see in the form of God a prize tobe coveted, but emptied himself, takingthe form of a slave (morphe doulou), andhaving become as all men are ... he abasedhimself and became obedient to death,even death on a cross’ (Phil 2:6-8).

Thus we can grasp just what constitutesthe essence of being a Christian in aChristological perspective: to exist as aChristian is to share in the diakonia thatGod himself accomplished on behalf ofmankind. In the same way this leads us toan understanding of the fulfilment ofhumanity. To be a Christian means follow-ing Christ’s example in putting oneself atthe service of others, to the point ofrenouncing oneself and giving oneself, outof love.

Baptism confers this diakonein on every


The Diaconate – Perspectives on its Development – Tony Schmitz

presbyterate and the episcopate. Despitethis, it is a fact that, from the time of thescholastics to our own day, there remainedan interest in the theological significanceof the order and particularly in the ques-tion of the sacramental value of thisdegree of the order.

After the restoration of the diaconate as aneffective ministry placed at the dispositionof the particular churches by the SecondVatican Council, we have seen a markedlydifferentiated process of reception of thediaconate. Each church attempted to takeaccount of the real implications of this ini-tiative of the Council. Taking account ofthe concrete circumstances of ecclesial lifein each place – different in every countryand continent – the leaders of the church-es continue to discern whether or not it isopportune to include the permanent dia-conate in the present-day life of their com-munities. In the course of this process ofreception a number of questions have sur-faced, both in respect of the interpretationof the New Testament and the historicaldata and also in respect of the theological

implications of the Council’s decision andconsequent implementations executed inline with the Church’s magisterium.Moreover, although the Council made nodeclaration on the question of women’sdiaconal ministry as alluded to in the past,it is a subject that ought to be studied inorder to establish the ecclesial status of itand so also to examine what it is that could

be given present-day recognition. TheInternational Theological Commissionexamined these questions with a view toclarifying them in the light of advances inour knowledge of the historical and theo-logical sources as well as in the light of thepresent-day life of the Church. Whilst thefacts of the matter need to be establishedthrough rigorous historical methods, itremains the case that only a considerationof them in the light of the sensus fidei canrender these a locus theologicus. We mustdistinguish what can be recognised asbelonging to Tradition itself since its origin,and those regional forms that are purelyregional or else tied to a particular periodof this same Tradition. In this perspectiveit is fundamental to recall the role of theinterventions that in the Church belong tothe competence of the hierarchy, namely,the decisions of ecumenical councils andthe declarations of the magisterium. Inshort, if we are to arrive at properly theo-logical conclusions we have to make aneffort of discernment in the light of theseinterventions whilst admitting that a wideknowledge of history has the inestimableadvantage of knowing the concrete life ofthe Church, in the heart of which therewill always be found both a truly humanelement and a veritable divine element(LG 8). Only faith is able to discern theworking of the Holy Spirit there. Men andwomen, beings at once corporal and spiri-tual, historical and transcendent, becomeprovidential recipients of an overture fromGod in the Persons of His Word madeflesh and of His Spirit, Who, as pneumaand dynamis, makes us able to discern inthe phenomena of history a God who dis-closes himself through words and signs. Itis precisely because He reveals his mysteryto the community of faith through hisWord and his Spirit that God builds up theChurch as a community of witnesses whoemerge from, and represent, Revelation.Dogmatic teaching is a rendering intowords of the Word who is God enfleshed,according to the Church’s profession of



Theological languagealways remainsanalogical, the ultimatecriterion of which rests in its capacity to speakthe truth of Revelation

Women’s diaconal ministry isa subject that ought to bestudied in order to establishthe ecclesial status of it and so also to examine what it isthat could be given present-day recognition

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Christ. In the opening address of theLetter to the Philippians (towards 50 AD),St Paul greets, in a specific way, ‘theirepiskopoi and deacons’ (Phil 1:1). Whatwe dealing with here are ministries in thecourse of their taking shape in the Church.

Of course the terminology in respect of theministries was not yet fixed. Reference ismade to the proistamenoi (Rom 12:8),‘those who are among you as your leadersin the Lord and who admonish you’, forwhom the Thessalonians have ‘the great-est respect and affection because of theirwork.’ (1Th 5:12). Reference is made toleaders (hegoumenoi), ‘who have madeyou hear the word of God’; and the Letterto the Hebrews adds: ‘ ... obey your leadersand submit to them’ (13:7,.17; cf. 13: 24;cf. 1 Clement 1.3; 21.6); there is also ref-erence to ‘the men who were sent’ whoguide the communities (cf. Acts 15:22), toapostles, to prophets, to teachers (cf.1 Co12:28; Gal 6:6; Acts 13:1; 14:4,14), to‘evangelists, or rather pastors and teach-ers’ (Eph 4:11). St Paul says of Stephanasand of Fortunatus of Achaicus, ‘the first-

fruits of Achaia’, ‘that they have devotedthemselves to the service (diakonia) ofGod’s holy people’ (1 Co 16:15); heexhorts the Corinthians ‘to be subject tosuch men and to all who work with themin this arduous task.’ (1 Co 16:16).

The activity expressed in these terms pointsto the official titles that were to take shapeshortly thereafter. What emerges fromthese documents is that the early Churchattributed the formation of the diverse min-istries to the action of the Holy Spirit (1 Co12:28; Eph 4:11; Acts 20:28) as well as tothe personal initiative of the apostles, whoowed their own being sent out on mission tothe Most High and the Lord of this world,and who anchored their role of sustainingthe Church in the power they had receivedfrom him (Mk 3:13-19; 6:6-13; Mt 28:16-20; Acts 1:15-26; Gal 1:10-24).

Diakonein is revealed as a radical determi-nation of Christian living, expressed in thesacramental foundation of Christian exis-tence, in the charismatic building up ofthe Church, as well as in the sending outof the apostles on mission and in the min-istry – which flows from the apostolate – ofthe proclamation of the Gospel, of thesanctification and of the governance of thechurches.

This translation has been made by TonySchmitz from the official text publishedoriginally in French by the InternationalTheological Commission with the title LeDiaconat: Evolution et Perspectives.This version has not yet been submittedfor official recognitio. �



Diakonein is revealed asa radical determinationof Christian living, in the charismatic buildingup of the Church, as wellas in the sending out ofthe apostles on missionand in the ministry – which flows from theproclamation of theGospel

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Christian. It is in virtue of this participa-tion in the diakonia, leiturgia et martyriaof the Church that the Christian cooper-ates in the service of Christ for the salva-tion of mankind. Effectively, being limbs ofthe Body of Christ all need to become ser-vants of one another, employing thecharisms they have received for the build-ing up of the Church and their brothersand sisters in faith and love: ‘If anyoneclaims to serve, let it be as by a commandreceived from God’ (1 Peter 4:11-12; cf.Rom 12:8; 1 Co 12:5).

The diakonia that Christians render oth-ers is realised concretely in diverse expres-sions of fraternal charity, serving thosewho are sick, physically or spiritually, thosein need, those in prison (Matt 25), in thehelp brought to the churches (Rom 15: 25;1 Tim 5:3-16) or in various forms of assis-tance given to the apostles, as we can seein the case of the men and women collab-orators of the Apostle Paul who sendsthem his greetings (Rom 16:3-5; Phil 4:3).

II The Diakonia of the ApostlesBecause he was the doulos, or slave, ful-filling, in total obedience, his Father’ssalvific will, Jesus Christ was made Lord ofall creation. He made himself the onethrough whom the God’s sovereignty wasachieved by the gift of his life: For ‘the Sonof Man himself came not to be served, butto serve, and to give his life as a ransom formany’ (Mk 10:45). In the same way, Jesusinstituted the Twelve: “for they were to behis companions and to be sent out to pro-claim the message, with power to drive outdevils” (Mk 3:14-15). In a way that is rad-ically opposed to the rulers and the great ofthis world who abuse their power andexploit their fellows, the disciple needs tobe ready to become diakonos and doulos ofall (Mk 10:42-43).

Diakonein is the essential characteristic ofapostolic ministry. Apostles are God’s col-laborators and servants (cf. 1 Th 3:2; 1 Co

3:9; 2 Co 6:1), ‘Christ’s servants and stew-ards entrusted with the mysteries of God’(1 Co 4:1). They are ‘ministers of a newcovenant’ (2 Co 3: 6) and ministers of theGospel (cf. Col 1: 23; Eph 3:6 ff), ‘servantsof the word’ (Acts 6:4). In their function asapostles, they are ‘ministers of theChurch’, in order to bring about the com-ing of the word of Christ to believers in itsfullness (cf. Col 1:25) and to organise thebuilding up of the Church, the Body ofChrist, in love (cf. Eph 4:12). On accountof Christ, the apostles become servants ofbelievers since it is not themselves theyproclaim but Christ Jesus as the Lord (2 Co

4:5). They are sent in the name of Christ,the word having been transmitted to themin order that they might proclaim it in theservice of reconciliation. Through them,God himself exhorts et acts in the HolySpirit and in Christ Jesus, who has recon-ciled the world to God (cf. 2 Co 5:20).

III The Diakonia of the Collaborators of the Apostles

Within the Pauline communities (cf. 1 Cor15:3-5; Gal 2), alongside, with, or near, StPaul, St Peter, and the other eleven apos-tles, we find the direct collaborators of StPaul in the apostolic ministry (for exam-ple, Sylvanus, Timothy, Titus, Apollos) aswell as many others allied to him in apos-tolic activity and in service to the localchurches (2 Co 8:23): thus Epaphroditus(Phil 2:25), Epaphras (Col 4:12) andArchippus (Col 4:17), all called servants of



... fraternal charity,serving those who aresick, physically orspiritually, those in need, those in prison

Study Days for Deacons15 November 2008 and also in March 2009

For more details consult: www.heythrop.ac.uk or contact: [email protected]., telephone: (00 44) (0)20 7795 6600

5TH National Assembly of Deacons in England and Wales

5-7 February 2010Holme Lacy Hotel, Hereford, England

For booking forms contact Deacon Len Matthews e-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL STUDYCONFERENCE


eviewRNewDIACONAL

November 2008

The Sacramentality of the DiaconateDidier Gonneaud

Whatever became of the Diakonia of the Word?Bart Koet

Lectio Divina and the ParishSeán Murphy

The Pastoral Challenge of MigrationRichard Steenvoorde

The Diaconate: Perspectives on its developmentInternational Theological CommissionTony Schmitz

Issue 1

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HEYTHROP COLLEGEThe Specialist Philosophy and Theology College of the University of London

26 - 29 March 2009Vienna / Austria

Organiser :INTERNATIONAL DIACONATE CENTRE

For programme and booking forms e-mail : [email protected]

Theme :

DIACONALSPIRITUALITY

YESTERDAY– TODAY –

TOMORROW

IDCNEC conference in Ushaw (2011) ... details to be confirmed

‘The Deacon inThe Body of

Christ’

I am very pleased to be asked to intro-duce this first issue of the New Diaconal

Review. In the forty years since Pope PaulVI in his letter, Sacrum DiaconatusOrdinem, restored the permanent dia-conate in the western Church, it hasbecome enormously important in the lifeof the Church. In the countries of north-ern Europe, for which this new journal isprimarily intended, permanent deaconshave rapidly become an indispensable partof the Church’s mission, fulfilling theirthreefold ministry of Word, Charity andEucharist.

In the countries of northern Europe whereEnglish is a primary or secondary languagethere have been few resources for acade-mic and theological research about thepermanent diaconate. Those involved inministerial formation have rightly concen-trated on the practical task of equippingthe men called to this form of ministrywith the skills they need to serve theChurch. Now that the permanent dia-conate is firmly rooted and is reaching aparticular stage of maturity, it is good thata new North European Circle of the estab-lished International Diaconate StudyCentre (IDC/IDZ) is being formed to giveadditional support to those in diaconalministry, those in formation and the bish-ops, clergy, religious and lay peopleinvolved in their formation. In manyrespects we have all been engaged indeveloping a distinctive theology of thediaconate as time has gone on and this hasmeant that there has already been a fruit-ful debate in recent years about aspects ofthat theology. The New Diaconal Review isthe first theological journal devoted to thisform of ministry to be launched in the

English-speaking world outside NorthAmerica and I hope that it will be a valu-able resource for all of us.

The permanent diaconate has become avalued part of the life of the CatholicChurch in Europe and I hope that thisnew journal will play a big part in develop-ing understanding and experience of thisministry. I am grateful to all who have sup-ported this venture and am pleased tocommend this first issue.

+ Cormac Murphy O’ConnorArchbishop of Westminster


Message from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster

Archbishop’s HouseAmbrosden Avenue

London SW1

September 2008

NDRV1Issue01

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