National Directory

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CANDIDATE STAGE OF DIACONAL FORMATION

249. It is preferable to celebrate the ordination in the cathedral church on a Sunday or feast day, according to the rite of the Roman Pontifical , invit ing the diocesan Church’s full participation. “During the rite special attention should be given to the participation of the wives and children of the married ordinands.” 50 250. After the ordination, a certificate should be prepared containing the date, place, and name of the ordaining prelate. It should be signed and sealed by the chancellor. This information also should be recorded in the diocesan book of ministries and ordinations.The certificate, together with the letter of petition and the diocesan bishop’s letter of call to ordi nation, should be enclosed in the newly ordained deacon’s personal and permanent file. The newly ordained deacon should also receive a written testimonial to his ordination. 51 The newly ordained deacon’s personal and permanent file should be transferred, as soon after the ordination as is convenient, from the formation office to a permanent location among the curia records in the diocesan chancery.The director of formation or someone designated by the diocesan bishop must also notify the church in which the newly ordained was baptized so that the information regarding the ordination may be included in that church’s baptismal-sacramental records. 52 The parish of Baptism may notify the director of formation when the information has been recorded. 1. The candidate stage of formation must last at least three years, which does not include the two-year aspirant stage. (214) 2. Regarding the intellectual dimension and the number of hours of lec tures, seminars, and related educational activities specified in the Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons , the objective of this requirement is to guarantee the planning and implementation of an integral and substantive program of formation that adequately prepares a candidate to represent the Church as an ordained minister. (215) 3. The human dimension of this stage of formation continues to Norms