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PA420CE The Call, Mission and Spirituality of the Permanent Deacon





This course offers the students an opportunity to examine the diaconate by examining its biblical, patristic and canonical roots, its decline and ultimate renewal authorized by the Second Vatican Council.  The emergence of contemporary theologies of the diaconate will also be explored, based on a spirituality of the diaconate which is grounded in the deacon’s sacramental initiation and ordination, coupled with an approach to diaconal ministry which is at once similar yet distinct from the sacerdotal orders of the episcopate and presbyterate.


Course Syllabus

Course Description

This course offers the students an opportunity to examine the diaconate by examining its biblical, patristic and canonical roots, its decline and ultimate renewal authorized by the Second Vatican Council.  The emergence of contemporary theologies of the diaconate will also be explored, based on a spirituality of the diaconate which is grounded in the deacon’s sacramental initiation and ordination, coupled with an approach to diaconal ministry which is at once similar yet distinct from the sacerdotal orders of the episcopate and presbyterate.

Course Objectives

  1. To understand the renewed ministry of the diaconate in a more systematic and comprehensive way, moving beyond a functional understanding of the diaconate.
  2. To see how the diaconate may be integrated into a “communio of service” with lay ecclesial ministers and the other ordained ministries of presbyter and bishop.
  3. To understand the history behind the contemporary renewal of the diaconate, and to appreciate more completely the vision of the bishops at the Second Vatican Council in reaching its decisions on the diaconate.
  4. To explore the challenges of articulating a contemporary theology of the diaconate which respects the foundational sacramental theology of initiation along with the unity and diversity found in the sacrament of Orders. The development of a theology of the diaconate is a new phenomenon, and the students will examine the struggle involved in developing a “new way of thinking” (novus mentis habitus) about the diaconate.
  5. To understand the development of the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States by the bishops of the United States, especially in its understandings of diaconal history, theology, spirituality, formation and ministry.

This course addresses specific “Model Standards” from the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AND THE USE OF OTHER SOURCES

  1. The Documents of the Second Vatican Council (any translation, including Tanner, Flannery, and Abbott. The documents are also all available at vatican.va.)
  2. National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States (Washington: USCCB, 2004).
  3. Congregation for Catholic Education and Congregation for Clergy, Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons [BNFPD] and Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons [DMLPD] (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana), 1998. Available on-line at vatican.va.
  4. William T. Ditewig, The Emerging Diaconate: Servant Leaders in a Servant Church (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2007).
  5. Shawn McKnight, Understanding the Diaconate: Historical, Theological, and Sociological Foundations (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2018).

ASSIGNMENTS

  1. There will be weekly reading assignments.
  2. 3 Essays (3 – 4 pages each, typed, double-spaced, standard fonts/margins). The first essay will be on some facet of the historical development of the diaconate; the second essay will deal with a theological issue on the diaconate, and the third will address a topic related to the spirituality of the diaconate. The essays are not simply personal reflection papers; they are, in fact, short research assignments.  As such, documentation and proper citation of sources is expected.
  3. Substantive participation in online discussions. Each week discussion questions will be posted.
  4. In addition, for those students pursuing this course for graduate credit: a 10-12 page research paper on a particular aspect of diaconal ministry. The topic for this paper must be approved by the instructor.GRADE EVALUATION

Final grades will be determined by student performance in the three assignments (four assignments for graduate students).

Incomplete grades will be assigned for compelling reasons only, and at the discretion of the instructor.

 

 

MODULES

Module One:  Introductory Lecture: What is the Diaconate?

Module Two: Scriptural Roots of the Diaconate. Lecture.

Module Three: Early History of the Diaconate. Lecture.

Module Four: Preparing for the Renewal of the Diaconate: The Council of Trent and the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Lecture.

Module Five: Vatican II and the Renewal of the Diaconate.  Lecture.

Module Six: Theology. The nature and ministries of the permanent diaconate.

Module Seven: Theology.  Charting a Theology of Diaconate.

Module Eight: Theology.  Foundational Theological Themes: Kenosis and Theosis. Lecture.

Module Nine: Theology.  Meaning of Diaconal Ordination.

Module Ten: Spirituality.

Module Eleven: Spirituality: Matrimony, Celibacy, Orders.  Lecture

Module Twelve: Recurring Questions on the Diaconate. Lecture

 







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