Diaconal Ministries: Serving Deacons in the Heart of the Church

There are moments in the life of the Church when the Holy Spirit gathers long-standing threads and weaves them into something new. Diaconal Ministries arises from such a moment. It is not simply a program or a set of services, but a response to a call that has matured through years of prayer, pastoral experience, and theological reflection on the gift of the diaconate.

At its heart, Diaconal Ministries seeks to assist the Church in forming deacons who live and serve from a deep communion with Christ the Servant. The Second Vatican Council restored the permanent diaconate as a distinct and stable order, calling deacons to a ministry of the Word, the altar, and charity (cf. Lumen Gentium, 29). Yet the fruitfulness of this vocation depends not merely on external activity, but on the interior life of the deacon and his ongoing conversion to Christ, who came “not to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45).

For this reason, Diaconal Ministries is grounded in a holistic vision of formation and renewal. The deacon’s service flows from his sacramental identity in Christ, and that identity is continually deepened through his relationship with the Lord. This movement of relationship, identity, and mission stands at the center of this work, shaping both initial formation and ongoing growth in ministry.

In practical terms, Diaconal Ministries offers formation resources rooted in the Church’s teaching, including the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States and the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Diaconorum Permanentium. It provides opportunities for retreats, continuing formation, and spiritual renewal, all centered on the Eucharist and nourished by Marian devotion, so that the deacon’s ministry may always flow from the altar and be entrusted to the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It also seeks to assist dioceses in evaluating and strengthening their diaconal programs through thoughtful assessment and strategic planning, attentive to the particular needs and charisms of each local Church.

Above all, Diaconal Ministries is offered as a service of communion, supporting bishops, priests, and deacons in their shared participation in the one sacrament of Holy Orders. Rooted in prayer and faithful to the Church, it hopes to help form deacons whose lives radiate the love of Christ the Servant for the building up of His Body.