The National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and the Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States (Ascension)

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National Directory for Permanent Deacons

of the United States of America voted in the spring of 1968 to peti tion the Holy See for authorization. In their letter of May 2, 1968, the bishops presented the following reasons for the request: a. To complete the hierarchy of sacred orders and to enrich and strengthen the many and various diaconal ministries at work in the United States of America with the sacramental grace of the diaconate b. To enlist a new group of devout and competent men in the active ministry of the Church c. To aid in extending needed liturgical and charitable services to the faithful in both large urban and small rural communities d. To provide an official and sacramental presence of the Church in areas of secular life, as well as in communities within large cities and sparsely settled regions where few or no priests are available e. To provide an impetus and source for creative adaptations of diaco nal ministries to the rapidly changing needs of our society 6 On August 30, 1968, the Apostolic Delegate informed the United States of America bishops that St. Paul VI had agreed to their request. In November of that year, a standing committee on the diaconate was created by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB). In 1971, the conference approved and authorized the publication of the committee’s document titled Permanent Deacons in the United States: Guidelines on Their Formation and Ministry . 21 These Guidelines served the Church in the United States of America well as it began to assim ilate the new ministry of deacons. 22 In February 1977, the commit 21 Bishops’ Committee on the Permanent Diaconate, NCCB, Permanent Deacons in the United States: Guide lines on Their Formation and Ministry (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1971). The committee, under its first chairman, Most Rev. Ernest L. Unterkoefler, prepared the original 1971 edition of these guidelines. 22 The diaconate has grown remarkably in the United States. According to statistics of the USCCB Secretar iat for the Diaconate, there were, in 1971, 58 deacons and 529 candidates and, in 1975, 1,074 deacons and 2,243 candidates. By 1980, the number of deacons had quadrupled to 4,656, with 2,514 candidates. By December 31, 2001, more than 14,000 deacons were serving in the dioceses of the United States and territorial sees. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), as of 2015 “it can be estimated that there are 18,558 permanent deacons in the United States today.” Of this num ber, “it can be estimated that there are 14,588 deacons active in ministry in the United States today, or about 79 percent of all permanent deacons.” Mary L. Gautier and Thomas P. Gaunt, A Portrait of the

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