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

NDPD

The Ministry and Life of Deacons

54

to the office of moderator of the curia. 20 To strengthen the diaconal char acter of the diocesan Church, care is to be taken, therefore, to include, as much as possible, a diaconal presence within diocesan structures, as well as within parish communities. 21 52 Deacons who have parochial administrative training and experience may be appointed to assist a pastor or team of priests in solidum to care for several neighboring parishes. 22 Deacons may also be appointed to par ticipate in the pastoral care of a parish due to a lack of priests. 23 In the latter case, a priest with the powers and faculties of a pastor is to be appointed. Moreover, in such extraordinary situations, deacons “always have precedence over the non-ordained faithful,” and their authority and responsibility “should always be clearly specified in writing when they are assigned office.” 24 53 Where the diocesan bishop has deemed it opportune to institute par ish pastoral councils, deacons who exercise pastoral care in a parish are members of the council by right. 25 Relationship with the Priesthood 54 Deacons exercise their ministry in communion not only with their dioc esan bishop but also with the priests who serve the diocesan Church. As collaborators in ministry, priests and deacons are two complementary but subordinate participants in the one apostolic ministry bestowed by Christ upon the Apostles and their successors. The diaconate is not an abridged or substitute form of the priesthood; it is a full order in its own right. 26

20 21 22 23

CIC, c. 473 §2.

DMLPD, nos. 41-42. CIC, cc. 526 §1; 517 §1.

CIC, c. 517 §2.

24 DMLPD, no. 41. See CIC, c. 517 §2; Congregation for the Clergy et al., Instruction on Certain Ques tions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest (August 15, 1997), art. 4 §1a, www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/laity/documents/rc_con_inter dic_doc_15081997_en.html; and Congregation for the Clergy, Instruction The Priest, Pastor and Leader of the Parish Community (August 4, 2002), art. 25, www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/ documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_20020804_istruzione-presbitero_en.html. 25 DMLPD, no. 41; CIC, c. 536. 26 DMLPD, nos. 1, 41.

31