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What is a Deacon? - Busted Halo

Have you ever looked up at the altar at church and wondered who the adult male was on the altar with a diagonal stole that made him look like Star Trek’s Lt. Worf ?

This person is what the Catholic Church calls a Deacon. At the Second Vatican Council, the Church decided to restore the ministerial role of Deacon to the Catholic tradition. In ancient times, deacons served as servants. They ministered to the needs of all in the early church communities. But few people know more than a little about deacons.

Most deacons are married men with families of their own. They are called into the ministry to serve communities in a variety of ways alongside their role of assisting at mass and preaching the gospel. Deacons are called from the people of the parish community to bring the Word of God to those same people, doing a variety of things: from directing religious education, to serving food in the parish soup kitchen, to leading a letter-writing campaign to politicians. Deacons come from all walks of life. Some have doctorates while others only finished high school. Deacons also have “secular” jobs in the world — their ministry is not their primary occupation.

Permanent deacons are the aforementioned married men, but all priests also are ordained as deacons before they transition into their priestly vocations. These “transitional deacons” usually remain deacons for a short period of time (nine months to a year) before their priestly ordination.

Men must be married already to become a married permanent deacon. Single men called to the ministry of deacon take a vow of celibacy and may not marry; married deacons also take a vow of celibacy upon the death of their wife. In special cases, dispensations can be made for deacons to remarry, but these are rare.

Deacon Greg Kandra has been cultivating a career as an Emmy Award-winning television producer at CBS for nearly 20 years. Recently, Deacon Kandra discussed some basic questions that people have about deacons.

Busted Halo: So if deacons can be married men, a strange question to start … Do many deacons feel the call to the diaconate before they get married or after? How did it happen for you?

Greg Kandra: Most deacons, in my experience, feel called to this vocation later in life — in their 50′s or 60′s. Definitely after they’ve gotten married and raised a family. Very often, it’s a “second career,” something they take up after they’re retired and have more time on their hands. Periodically, you’ll find deacons who are single — we had two in my class, but that was two out of more than 50, so it’s exceptional. For me, obviously, it happened when I was in my 40s and had been married nearly 20 years. And, like a lot of deacons, I found myself attracted to the vocation after a long and winding trek through the desert — I’d been a fairly indifferent Catholic for much of my adult life, but at middle age found myself drawn more and more to traditions that I’d more or less abandoned in my youth. I went searching for a deeper spirituality and sense of purpose to my life. The diaconate was the ultimate result.

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