Almost two thousand years later, in 1967, pursuant to the documents of the Second
Ecumenical Vatican Council, the permanent Diaconate was reestablished. In his Apostolic letter
given Motu Proprio, Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem, Pope Paul VI, outlined what he believed was
the order of the diaconate and its responsibilities. In the documents of the Council, specifically
Lumen Gentium, the office of the “diaconate in the future could be restored as a particular and
permanent rank of the hierarchy.” 2 In the Spring of 1968 the United States Bishops petitioned
the Holy See for authorization to restore the permanent diaconate. On August 30, 1968, Pope
Paul agreed to their request. This August 2018 will mark the 50 th anniversary of the permanent
diaconate in the United States. But what is this office of the diaconate? In this paper I will
present the historical and, theological development of the diaconate. Where did the order of the
diaconate begin? What were the functions of these early deacons?
2
Second Vatican Council, “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium (November 21, 1964), in The
Documents of Vatican II, Vatican translation (Staten Island, NY: St. Paul’s, 2009), 29.
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