With the end of summer, something else is beginning: a new crop of deacons flourishing in Youngstown, Ohio.

I haven’t seen any ordination pics yet — Buckeyes, send them my way! — but the Catholic Exponent had a preview a couple weeks back:

Bishop George Murry, S.J., will ordain seven men on Sept. 6 at North Canton St. Paul Church and 13 more on Sept. 13 at St. Columba Cathedral. The two 10:30 a.m. liturgies were necessary so that the new deacons could invite family and friends to the services.

The new class will bring the number of men currently serving in that ministry in the diocese to 82.

Msgr. John Zuraw, director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate, supervised the formation of the candidates. Deacon Ray Hatala and his wife, Sue, associate directors of the office, were also instrumental in the process.

In an interview with the Catholic Exponent this week, Msgr. Zuraw discussed the formation process that led to this month’s ordinations, as well as the reason it had been such a long time since the last class of permanent deacons was ordained for the diocese.

Bishop Thomas Tobin had put the diaconate program on hold here while the Vatican Congregation for Clergy and the Congregation for Catholic Education were developing documents on the permanent diaconate, Msgr. Zuraw explained. The first was published by the Congregation for Clergy as the “Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons.” At the same time, the Congregation for Catholic Education issued “Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons.” The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States” in 2003.

Pope Paul VI had allowed for the ancient ministry of the diaconate to be begun anew in 1968, Msgr. Zuraw explained, but through the years, various guidelines for the formation of permanent deacons had evolved in different places. Seeing that reality unfold, the Holy See had sought a more unified approach for the formation and education of permanent deacons. “Bishop Tobin wanted to be sure that we did not start a program that would not thoroughly reflect what this expected new directive was all about,” Msgr. Zuraw explained. “He never intended that it would take this long, but it did take this long” until the new guidelines were fully available.

The new group of candidates for the permanent diaconate began their study four years ago in the fall of 2004 with a year of aspirancy. In the Diocese of Youngstown, those considering becoming permanent deacons took part in the diocesan Foundations in Ministry program, participating in 18 sessions over eight months to gain a greater understanding of Scripture, the mission of Jesus Christ, and the basics of Catholic teaching. “What we tried to do is to get everybody on the same level, both academically and somewhat spiritually,” Msgr. Zuraw added. “The candidates were coming from a wide variety of backgrounds theologically.” Some of the men had college educations and some did not. Most had been out of school for many years and needed to get readjusted to dealing with coursework.

One candidate chose to leave the program after seeing the time commitment involved, but the remaining men then entered three years of formation, meeting monthly from September through June with annual August retreats as well. After each session, they were given homework assignments and had to produce a written document of 10 pages or more for the next session. Weekends in the final three years were devoted to topics in biblical studies, dogmatic theology, moral theology and pastoral studies.

This particular group of men had to make adjustments midway through the program when the former Sacred Heart Retreat Center, where they met for weekends, was no longer available. “This was the best group of men that we could have possibly asked for,” Msgr. Zuraw reflected. “We could not have asked for a better group to go through the process with us. There was an openness on their part to learning. They realized that we would have to make adjustments as we went along, and they jelled as a group.

While there has at times been confusion over the role of permanent deacons since Pope Paul VI reinstated this ministry, the Church documents and local preparation in the program here makes it clear that a deacon’s service to the Church requires a balance. Msgr. Zuraw said:

‘What we stressed with this class is that the diaconal ministry flows from family life. So their first priority is being husband and father. That’s where a balance needs to be created and established. If one’s job, their financial livelihood, demands more time and effort, then the amount of time that they spend within the parish ministry will be lessened.”

Because each deacon’s situation will be different, the diocese does not require the men to devote a certain number of hours to their ministry. Their own occupations maintain them economically, Msgr. Zuraw noted. “They are not being paid by the Church. This is ministry. This is service. This is volunteering. They need to devote time to their family and job. Some of our deacons even have small children who must be their first priority.”

Above all, the new deacons learned that they were to be advocates for justice, “a witness and guide for the People of God,” Msgr. Zuraw offered. “As the Directory says, the ministry of the Word leads to the ministry of the altar, which in turn prompts the transformation of the life of the deacon, resulting in service and charity. The deacon is also a sanctifier of the people of God, an evangelizer and teacher, but his most important role is that of being the advocate for justice.”

One new element with this current class of permanent deacons will differ from the past: the new men will not have preaching faculties for their first year. There are two reasons for this change, Msgr. Zuraw told the Exponent.

The first is simply that most of the men are entering into liturgical ministry for the first time; the aim was to make that entry a slow process, which would allow them to grow. “This is a transition for them,” the priest explained. “It’s a transition for their wives, their families, and the parishes they will serve. To place upon them a wide variety of roles in ministry right from the beginning would be unfair. We would like them to get used to the role of deacon, to the role of service and justice.”

The second reason for delaying the granting of preaching faculties is so that the parish community will first see the new deacons in the role of minister of charity and minister of justice, then root their preaching in those qualities. “That will make their proclamation of God’s word more authentic, more credible,” Msgr Zuraw said. “The parish will have seen them at work within these ministries.”

The deacons will be ordained for the diocese, exercising their ministry under the authority of the bishop, he said, but most will serve in parish ministry, while a few could become involved in wider activities – such as prison ministry – that would serve the diocese at large. Should their employment require them to move to another area of this diocese, they would join a new parish community to serve there; if their work takes them outside the diocese, they would serve in that new diocese as ordained permanent deacons without having to undergo further study or training.

Msgr. Zuraw praised the efforts of Sue Hatala in meeting with the wives of the new deacons. “Sue has helped a lot, especially with the deacon candidates’ wives,” he said. “They have had a few sessions [with her] during this formation on what to expect, because not only will their husbands be visible members within the parish community, but often individuals will come to the wives and want
them to have answers.”

The Church document on the permanent diaconate understands the importance of the wives in this formation, he added, noting that “the wives have to give their OK, their permission for the husbands to enter the diaconate program.” Wives signed their husbands’ petition for ordination “so that there was a unified force going into all of this.”

Finally, Msgr. Zuraw pointed out that it is important for diocesan Catholics to recall that the Diocese of Youngstown first began the permanent diaconate program under the late Bishop James W. Malone in the 1970s; the first class was ordained in 1977. “This diocese has a long history and tradition with the permanent diaconate,” Msgr. Zuraw stressed. “The permanent diaconate is not new to us here.”

You can read all about the newest clergy of Youngstown at the link. Blessings and welcome, to one and all!