Bishop George Niederauer of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City will ordain 25 men as deacons in services scheduled for 10 a.m. today.
After four years of study and preparation, the men will be ordained to minister in a variety of positions throughout Utah. Duties include many of those traditionally met by priests, whose ranks have been shrinking for decades in the United States.
Celibacy has long been an issue for many who have felt called to ministry in the church, and as the number of full-time priests has continued to decline, the duties of deacons — who serve part-time and can be married — have been expanded.
Training includes academic coursework one day per week for four years, pastoral training including supervised internships and field experiences during the last two years, and spiritual formation including regular spiritual direction, retreats and Days of Recollection.
Once ordained, the deacons will be involved with administering baptism, witnessing marriages, officiating at committals and leading communion services, as well as giving homilies, providing adult religious education and preparing candidates to receive the sacraments. The men have also received training for traditional outreach activities, including community service, visiting the sick, family ministry, social welfare, youth work and prison ministry.
Sister Georgita Cunningham, R.S.M., who leads the diaconate training program for the diocese, emphasized that "a deacon is a man who is called to a ministry of service. Like bishops and priests, he receives the sacrament of Holy Orders and has a distinct role to play in the Catholic Church. His service to the community is threefold: service of the Word, service of the altar and service of charity."
Typically married, deacons serve the church part time while balancing their ministries with duties to home, family and their professions.
According to a press release announcing the ordinations, the permanent diaconate was nonexistent for several centuries but resurfaced at the Second Vatican Council in 1967, when Pope Paul VI re-established the diaconate as a permanent ministry in the Latin rite.
Since then, it has grown dramatically. In 1996 there were 21,873 deacons worldwide, with more than half of those serving in the United States. In 2003, that number in the United States grew to 14,106.
Those to be ordained today are Ricardo Arias, Aniceto Armendaris, John Bash, Willis Bassett, Scott Chisholm, Jack Clark, Scott Dodge, Dan Essary, Eugene Farrell, Willie Folkes, Paul Graham, Forrest Gray, Herschel Hester, Roger Huber, John Keyser, John Kranz, Billy Martin Jr., Steven Neveraski, David Osman, George Reade III, Gerald Shea, Marcel Soklaski, Thomas Tosti, Manuel deAtocha Trujillo and Manuel Velez.
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