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

X NDPD 11

Preface

and pastoral care of aspirants, candidates, and deacons in accord with the intent of the Second Vatican Council and the subsequent teachings of St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II. 37 These documents were promulgated as a joint text by St. John Paul II on February 22, 1998, the Feast of the Chair of Peter. 38 11 Between 1995 and 1996, the NCCB’s Bishops’ Committee on the Diaconate, under the chairmanship of Most Rev. Dale J. Melczek, issued three documents: (1) Protocol for the Incardination/Excardina tion of Deacons , (2) Policy Statement: Self-Study Instrument and Con sultation Team Procedures , 39 and (3) A National Study on the Permanent 37 BNFPD and DMLPD, joint introduction, no. 2; see BNFPD, no. 14. 38 BNFPD, no. 90; DMLPD, no. 82. Additional Vatican documents relevant to the formation and ministry of deacons include the following: 1. Guide for Catechists (1993), issued by the Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples, which pro poses educational and formational models. As required by the Congregation for Catholic Educa tion in BNFPD, diaconal formation is to encompass more than catechist formation and is to be more analogous to the formation of priests. Guide for Catechists provides universal guidelines for catechist formation. 2. The General Directory for Catechesis (1997), from the Congregation for the Clergy, provides insightful criteria in proposing appropriate adult education methodologies and for establishing parameters for an authentic and complete theological study. The Instruction on Certain Questions Regarding the Collabo ration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest (1997), signed by the heads of eight dicasteries of the Holy See, offers explanations on the appropriate collaboration between the ordained ministers of the Church and the non-ordained faithful. 3. I n 1997, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a Circular Letter (cited herein as CL) to diocesan bishops and religious ordinaries establishing criteria regarding the suitability of candidates to be admitted to sacred orders and further directing the establishment of a diocesan board to oversee the scrutinies of candidates before the reception of the rite of candidacy, the ministry of lector, the ministry of acolyte, and ordination to the diaconate and priesthood. This document is essential in the formulation of admission and selection policies for diaconal candidates. 4. T he Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity issued a supplementary document to its Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (1993), namely, the Ecumenical Dimension in the Formation of Those Engaged in Pastoral Work (1997). This document specifies that an ecumenical dimension is to be included in diaconal formation and ministry. 5. T he encyclical letter On the Relationship Between Faith and Reason (Fides et Ratio) (1998), issued by St. John Paul II, establishes academic parameters to be included in the intellectual and human dimensions of diaconal formation. 6. T he post-synodal apostolic exhortation The Church in America (Ecclesia in America) (1999), issued by St. John Paul II, addresses the new evangelization in the Church in America and makes reference to the role of the deacon in that ministry. Additional documents of relevance that were released subsequent to the first edition of this National Directory include the following: Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004); Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio Omnium in Mentem (2009); and Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Normae de Gravioribus Delictis (2012). 39 Bishops’ Committee on the Diaconate, NCCB, Protocol for the Incardination/Excardination of Deacons (1995); and Bishops’ Committee on the Diaconate, NCCB, Policy Statement: Self-Study Instrument and Consultation Team Procedures (1995).

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