restoration of the permanent diaconate. The permanent diaconate had returned to the Latin
Church. 58
Chapter three of Lumen Gentium on the hierarchical structure of the Church and in
particular on the episcopate begins, “For the nurturing and constant growth of the People of God,
Christ the Lord instituted in His Church a variety of ministries, which work for the good of the
whole body.” It goes on to say, “That divine mission, entrusted by Christ to the Apostles, will
last until the end of the world…And for this reason the Apostles, appointed as rulers in this
society, took care to appoint successors.” 59 These successors would have help in their ministries.
A part of that help would be a restored permanent diaconate. The restoration made possible in
the language of section twenty-nine of chapter 3 of Lumen Gentium:
At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom hands are imposed "not unto
the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service." For strengthened by sacramental grace, in
communion with the bishop and his group of priests they serve in the diaconate of the
liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God. It is the duty of the deacon,
according as it shall have been assigned to him by competent authority, to administer
baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless
marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred
Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and
prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial
services. Dedicated to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of
the admonition of Blessed Polycarp: "Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the
truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all."
Since these duties, so very necessary to the life of the Church, can be fulfilled only with
difficulty in many regions in accordance with the discipline of the Latin Church as it
exists today, the diaconate can in the future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of
the hierarchy. It pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or
another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to decide whether and where it is
opportune for such deacons to be established for the care of souls. With the consent of the
Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can, in the future, be conferred upon men of more mature
58
Cf. Echlin. The Deacon in the Church past and Future, 113.
Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. (November 21, 1964), in The
Documents of Vatican II, Vatican translation, (Staten Island, NY: St. Pauls Publications 2009), 18, 20 .
59
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