Tuesday, October 2, 2012
330. What is the effect of the ordination to the diaconate?
(Comp
330) The deacon, configured to Christ the servant of all, is ordained
for service to the Church. He carries out this service under the authority of
his proper bishop by the ministry of the Word, of divine worship, of pastoral
care and of charity.
“In brief”
(CCC 1596) Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of
service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but
ordination confers on them important functions in the ministry of the word,
divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity, tasks which
they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1569) "At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be
found deacons, who receive the imposition of hands 'not unto the priesthood,
but unto the ministry"' (Lumen
gentium, 29; cf. Christus Dominus,
15). At an ordination to the diaconate only the bishop lays hands on the
candidate, thus signifying the deacon's special attachment to the bishop in the
tasks of his "diakonia" (Cf. St. Hippolytus, Trad. Ap. 8: SCh 11, 58-62). (CCC 1570) Deacons share in Christ's
mission and grace in a special way (Cf. Lumen
gentium, 41; Apostolicam actuositatem,
16). The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (“character") which cannot be removed and which
configures them to Christ, who made himself the "deacon" or servant
of all (Cf. Mk 10:45; Lk 22:27; St. Polycarp, Ad Phil. 5, 2: SCh 10, 182).
Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests
in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the
distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the
proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in
dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity (Cf. Lumen gentium, 29; Sacrosanctum Concilium, 35 § 4; Ad
gentes, 16).
Reflection
(CCC 1571) Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church
has restored the diaconate "as a proper and permanent rank of the
hierarchy" (Lumen gentium, 29 §
2), while the Churches of the East had always maintained it. This permanent diaconate, which can be
conferred on married men, constitutes an important enrichment for the Church's
mission. Indeed it is appropriate and useful that men who carry out a truly
diaconal ministry in the Church, whether in its liturgical and pastoral life or
whether in its social and charitable works, should "be strengthened by the
imposition of hands which has come down from the apostles. They would be more
closely bound to the altar and their ministry would be made more fruitful
through the sacramental grace of the diaconate" (Ad gentes, 16 § 6).
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