Voices
William T. Ditewig is a deacon of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. He is the former Executive Director of the Secretariat for the Diaconate at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. His most recent book is Courageous Humility: Reflections on the Church, Diakonia, and Deacons (NY: Paulist Press, 2022)..
FaithFaith and Reason
Eliminating a seminary diaconate is not only possible but necessary for envisioning a mature and fully formed diaconate for the future.
Faith
Just as the permanent diaconate is not only for celibates, neither is it a “married ministry,” though currently most deacons are married. Rather, the permanent diaconate is a major order of ecclesial ministry open to married and to unmarried men.