Thanks, Ed and JD, for a fascinating discussion and looking at the diaconate from a fresh perspective.
40 miles west of London a small rural parish north of mine has an elderly parish priest and an elderly deacon.
The permanent deacon is married and retired from his main career, so he can live on his pensions without a clerical stipend. He is an invaluable partner in the parish. I would think that every parish priest in the area would love such a person. Deacons receive a three year part time training, so it is a very serious commitment.
From what I can see of other English parishes, this is a typical pattern for permanent deacons. As they are so often retired guys, long settled with their wives in a place, they are assigned to a parish and not to a priest, as suggested in your discussion.
A young permanent deacon might be long-term-assigned to a given priest and move around with him. Sadly, given recent history, you would have to be 200% sure that they were both hetero ....
And for many lay people the sight of a young man who went every place his boss went would raise memories of those housekeepers who moved around with the priest.
Also the idea that a deacon could be trained in valuable skills, do invaluable work in a chancery or elsewhere and thus free up priests for parish work has merit.
How to sell this vision of a very special vocation to devout and able young men? Maybe there are a considerable number of young men out there, eager to serve the Church, yet wanting to do it outside a parish setting. If we can get past the image of all the semi retired guys....
There have been simplex priests in the past who were judged unable to cope with the full weight of priestly training. Fr Solanus Casey in Detroit is probably the best known example. Being a simplex priest was no barrier to prodigious sanctity. Remembering St Jean Vianney, I have reflected that he would probably never be admitted to any of the many modern seminaries named after him. He was not academically gifted. Does a simplex priest role has a place today? We need holy priests more than ever.
Thanks, Ed and JD, for a fascinating discussion and looking at the diaconate from a fresh perspective.
40 miles west of London a small rural parish north of mine has an elderly parish priest and an elderly deacon.
The permanent deacon is married and retired from his main career, so he can live on his pensions without a clerical stipend. He is an invaluable partner in the parish. I would think that every parish priest in the area would love such a person. Deacons receive a three year part time training, so it is a very serious commitment.
From what I can see of other English parishes, this is a typical pattern for permanent deacons. As they are so often retired guys, long settled with their wives in a place, they are assigned to a parish and not to a priest, as suggested in your discussion.
A young permanent deacon might be long-term-assigned to a given priest and move around with him. Sadly, given recent history, you would have to be 200% sure that they were both hetero ....
And for many lay people the sight of a young man who went every place his boss went would raise memories of those housekeepers who moved around with the priest.
Also the idea that a deacon could be trained in valuable skills, do invaluable work in a chancery or elsewhere and thus free up priests for parish work has merit.
How to sell this vision of a very special vocation to devout and able young men? Maybe there are a considerable number of young men out there, eager to serve the Church, yet wanting to do it outside a parish setting. If we can get past the image of all the semi retired guys....
There have been simplex priests in the past who were judged unable to cope with the full weight of priestly training. Fr Solanus Casey in Detroit is probably the best known example. Being a simplex priest was no barrier to prodigious sanctity. Remembering St Jean Vianney, I have reflected that he would probably never be admitted to any of the many modern seminaries named after him. He was not academically gifted. Does a simplex priest role has a place today? We need holy priests more than ever.