"Go and Make Disciples of All Nations"

Deacons and Evangelization

Deacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D.Professor of TheologySanta Clara University

Director of Faith Formation, Diaconate and PlanningDiocese of Monterey

Introduction "Go and make disciples

of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Mission is easy; the details get complicated, especially for deacons, still "emerging" after nearly 50 years.

All About Evangelization1. Renewed

Evangelization and Diaconate: Common Foundation

2. Joyful Witness3. Varied Renewal of the

Order of Deacons4. Obedience, Respect,

Flexibility and Adaptation

Three Essential Assumptions:

1. Deacons only make sense within broader context of servant Church

– Analogy with "priestly people" and ministerial priesthood

2. "Vision of the Founders"

3. After nearly 50 years, Diaconate is still emerging from the shadows

"Emerging"? From what? To what? The experience of

Diaconate in 2013 NOT the same as it was in 1967, which was NOT the same as it was in 67!

Also, not the same in Germany as Australia as India as the USA. . .

Plus, not in a vacuum…

During the Conference. . .1. What was "the

vision of the founders" for evangelization and diaconate?

2. "Novus Mentis Habitus"

3. Current realities, concerns, untapped potential: compare with vision?

Renewed Evangelization and Diaconate: Common Foundation – Vatican II

"Deacons are Apostlesof the New Evangelization"

(JPII)

Most Basic Question: WHY?

"Vatican II: That's when the Catholic Church. . . ."

Executive Officer, USS Billfish (SSN 676): "I remember Vatican II: that's when the Catholic Church sold out to. . . .

1962-1965:What were YOU doing?

What were you doing during the Council?– Were you even

alive?– Were you ordained

yet? What was your assignment?

– When was the first time you heard about "the Council? What did you think?

Current Example:Papal Retirement and Conclave 2013

Novus mentis habitus (John XXIII, Paul VI, JPII) Consider the "backgrounding" that went on

– What did they bring into the conclave?– What were their hopes, dreams,

expectations?– On a massive scale, same happened

before Vatican II

Last night, Pope Francis:"Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads,

Overnight, Pope Francis:that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, those who have quit or are indifferent. The ones who quit sometimes do it for reasons that, if properly understood and assessed, can lead to a return.

Overnight, Pope Francis:But that takes audacity and courage."

To understand the church today, and our role in it, must first understand the

vision behind the overall renewal

Paul VI: Everything was evangelization

Vatican II: "The great Catechism of our times"

The role of Vatican II: "to make the Church of the twentieth century ever better fitted for proclaiming the Gospel" (EN , #2)

Vatican II: Trajectories of Renewal What if you were

heading into Vatican III?

What did THEY bring? Average age in

1962: 62 Cultures Experience Priorities

Nearly 9,000 proposed agenda items!

A Little History: From 1900 - 1959

Just one horrific example…

1933 – 1945: Dachau becomes incubator of ecclesial reform

Only the beginning. . . .

Only the beginning. . . .

Priests at Dachau Total Priests Incarcerated at Dachau: 2720 Priests released: 314 Priests who died in camp: 1034 Priests transferred to other camps: 132 Priests who survived the war: 1240 (less than

half)

Dachau and Ecclesial Renewal?

Clergy & Religious of all faiths: "no special treatment"

Der Priesterblock Incubator for

renewal: "How must the Church change so that this does not happen again?"

Following the War. . . . Survivors begin to write

and plan New theologies emerge to

deal with a new understanding about God

Things had to change. . . .

Following the War, example: diaconate?

Otto Pies, Wilhelm Schamoni

Hannes Kramer and the "Diaconate Circles"

Karl Rahner International Catechetical

Week, Assisi, 1956 Pius XII (1947, 1957)

JPII on WWII

"World War II: An abyss of violence, destruction and death unlike anything previously known." (2004 World Day of Peace Message)

Vatican II: Response to WWII

What else going on October 1962?

Barbara Streisand signs her first recording contract

James Meredith enters U. of Mississippi

Johnny Carson hosts his first Tonight show

Ugandan independence from Britain

USSR tests nuke in atmosphere

US tests nuke in atmosphere

But the big news story. . .

Cuban Missile Crisis Pope John helps JFK

and Kruschev reach a resolution

John XXIIIReason for the Council:

Evangelization "to assert again the

teaching office of the Church. . . taking into account the errors, requirements and opportunities of our time. . . for all people throughout the world." (Opening Address, 11 October 1962)

"Good Pope John"Violence inflicted on others, the might of arms, and political domination, are of no help at all in finding a happy solution to the grave problems which afflict them.

That being so, the Catholic Church. . . desires to show herself to be the loving mother of all, benign, patient, full of mercy and goodness toward the brethren who are separated from her.

"Tantum Aurora Est!" – John XXIII Blessed John XXIII

challenged the Council Fathers and us to recognize that 'it is now just the dawn" of a new age for church and world.

The bishops speak to the world:

"We wish to convey to all people and to all nations the message of salvation, love, and peace. . . ." (Message to the World, October 20, 1962)

From the beginning of Council

A New Way ("habit") of thinking (mentioned by many conciliar Fathers, as well as John XXIII, Paul VI, JPII, and now, Francis)

70 draft documents, but all were rejected, either in whole or in part.

Bishops rejected the older, curial "way of thinking"

Inadequate to contemporary needs

Reform & RenewalFive critical areas:

– Role of Bishops & their Relationship to the Pope (complements Vatican I)

– Role of the Laity– Definition of Church Membership– Relationship of Catholic church to

other Christian churches– Relationship of Church's mission to

the life of the world

Role of Bishops– Complemented & completed work of

Vatican I– Three basic questions: What is a Bishop?

What is the unique role of the Bishop of Rome? How do they relate?

– Bishop is called by God. The sacramental identity of the bishop!

– Bishop is head of the local church, in communion with the Pope. [LG 26]

– Bishop is a vicar of Christ [LG 27]

Prior to Vatican II:"Find the Bishop!"

Role of Bishops

Renewal of the Diaconate is tied directly to this renewal of

the Episcopate

Bishops-Evangelization-Diakonia

24. Bishops, as successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord, to whom was given all power in heaven and on earth, the mission to teach all nations and to preach the Gospel to every creature, so that all may attain to salvation by faith, baptism and the fulfillment of the commandments.

Bishops-Evangelization-Diakonia

24. To fulfill this mission, Christ the Lord promised the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and on Pentecost day sent the Spirit from heaven, by whose power they would be witnesses to Him before the nations and peoples and kings even to the ends of the earth. And that duty, which the Lord committed to the shepherds of His people, is a true service, which in sacred literature is significantly called "diakonia" or ministry.

Schema 13:Unique among all Documents

"Schema 13" – only schema to emerge at the Council itself; Suenens, first session

At the urging of the bishops themselves, not the curia

Drafted in FRENCH Working groups

around the world

Gaudium et spes 4. The Church has always had the duty of

scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which people ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other. We must therefore recognize and understand the world in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteristics.

40. She serves as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society as it is to be renewed in Christ and transformed into God's family.

Importance of the Schema "It is precisely in this

document that the proof will out: whether the institutional church considers herself the be-all and end-all, or whether she deems herself an instrument in the hands of Christ, at the service of all mankind." Dutch Dominican Edward Schillebeeckx, 1964

Was he correct?New Church Identity: Servant

We stress that the teaching of the Council is channeled in one direction: the SERVICE of human kind, of every condition, in every weakness and need. The Church has declared herself a servant of humanity at the very time when her teaching role and her pastoral government have, by reason of this Council, assumed greater splendor and vigor. However, the idea of SERVICE has been central.

Paul VI: Animator of Evangelization & Diaconate

Diaconate: Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem (1967); Ad Pascendum & Ministeria Quaedam (1972)

Evangelization (Evangelii Nuntiandi) (1975)

Vatican II and the Diaconate:

"Vision of the Founders"

Who Had the Vision? Majority of supporters

were from Europe (especially Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and countries of Eastern Europe)

Others were bishops from Latin America, Africa, and Asia (especially Micronesia, Indonesia, India and Pakistan).

The Deacon at the Council 16 proposals (71 bishops) on functions of

deacons. Speak of deacons of "mature age" (40); age of deacons will be a topic of discussion during the later debate, AND LOWERED it to 35.

Specific functions: – "experienced catechist" – parish administration – administration of church goods and property – official preaching and teaching – presiding at Extreme Unction and other sacramental

ministries Deacon is a recognized leader in the

community, not a person new or inexperienced in ministry.

As one Council Father remembered. . . .

A deeply felt need in the decision to reestablish the diaconate was and is that of a greater and more direct presence of Church ministers in the various spheres such as family, work, school, etc., in addition to existing pastoral structures." General Audience, Deacons Serve the Kingdom of God (October 5, 1993), #6

So, the "Founders' Vision": Younger men (a few

bishops brought up subject of women deacons)– Still engaged with world

Connected to the bishop, whose ministry is referred to as "diakonia"!

Extending the reach of Church into NEW areas

Ministers of integrated Word-Sacrament-Charity

After the Council. . .

1964 – Lumen gentium 1965 – Second Vatican Council closes 18 June 1967 – Sacrum Diaconatus

Ordinem: Pope Paul VI implements Vatican II decision on the diaconate

Getting Started First bishops' conferences to request

permission (1967):– Germany– France– Italy– Brazil– Cameroon

The first ordinations. . . .

28 April 1968 – Cologne, Germany (5 ordinands)

8 years of preparation/service Ages: 35 – 47

The first ordinations. . . .

3 November 1968 – Rottenburg, Germany (9 ordinands)

8 December 1968 – Bamburg, Germany. 3 Franciscan brothers; after ordination sent to Paraguay and India

8 December 1968 – Douala, Cameroon. 7 African deacons for diocese of Douala.

1970 International Statistics: 100 Deacons

Algeria – 2 Belgium – 9 Brazil – 13 Cameroon – 8 Chile – 9 Germany – 45

France – 5 India – 2 Indonesia – 1 Paraguay – 1 South Africa – 2 United States – 3

Summary: Vatican II was all

about "diaconal evangelization"

Setting the world on fire for Christ BY MAKING OURSELVES THE SERVANT TO THE WORLD

That was the lesson of Dachau, and the common link between evangelization and diakonia