National Directory

xvi

FOREWORD

I would like to remind bishops of the availability of a visit of a con sultation team to diocesan permanent diaconate formation programs as a resource offered by the CCLV Committee to assist in strength ening diaconate programs. When a diaconal program is to be intro duced or substantially modified, or a program previously on hold is reactivated, the diocesan bishop is welcome to submit a proposal to the CCLV Chairman for its evaluation. The specific elements to be included in the proposal and applied by the committee in its review are available from the CCLV Secretariat. In the name of the Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I express our gratitude for the participation of all who assisted in the revision of the National Directory . Our heartfelt thanks to all those who serve so generously as deacons, as well as their families, pastors, and coworkers in ministry.

Bishop James Checchio, Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey Chair, Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life andVocations

1 Congregation for Catholic Education and Congregation for the Clergy, “Joint Declaration and Introduction,” Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons/ Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998), p. 8.