The deacon's exercise of charity and justice extends the loving hand of God's constant love and mercy to all who are in need. The Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education has called this work “the ministry most characteristic of the deacon." In The Deacon’s Ministry of Charity and Justice, Deacon William Ditewig focuses on this ministry as a constitutive element of the nature of the Church itself—always flowing from the ministries of Word and Sacrament and leading back to them, never apart from them. Along with a rich exploration of the scriptural, historical, and theological foundation of the deacon's practice of charity and justice, Deacon Ditewig—one of today's foremost experts on the permanent diaconate—develops specific and concrete principles for exercising these ministries faithfully, authentically, and effectively. The Deacon’s Ministry series explores the three fundamental diaconal ministries identified in the teaching of Vatican II: those of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God (Lumen Gentium 29). This series, written by three highly regarded permanent deacons, offers a rich combination of theology, spirituality, and practical and effective guidance. Deacons and those in diaconal formation, their families, the bishops and priests they work with, and the people they serve will welcome it.

The national directory addresses the dimensions and perspectives in the formation of deacons and the model standards for the formation, ministry, and life of deacons in the United States. It is intended as a guideline for formation, ministry, and life of permanent deacons and a directive to be utilized when preparing or updating a diaconate program in formulating policies for the ministry and life of deacons. This volume also includes Basic Standards for Readiness for the formation of permanent deacons in the United States, from the bishops' Committee on the Diaconate, and the committee document Visit of Consultation Teams to Diocesan Permanent Diaconate Formation Programs.

In recent years there has been a growing theological-pastoral interest in ministerial service and ministries in the Church, with a particular emphasis on the diaconal ministry and role that deacons have in the Church. The Compendium on the Diaconate: A Resource for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons explores how bishops, along with their helpers, the priests and deacons, have taken up the service of community, exercising the divinely established ecclesiastical ministry on different levels. The Church is ministry, service, diaconia, and it is called to be of service to the many aspects and sectors of the Church.This volume is a collection of fundamental texts for understanding the roots of the diaconate, understanding its ministerial special city and its potential for development in today's world as well as the Church's pastoral care.

From the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Congregation for the Clergy.

The development of new forms of ministry, lay and ordained, has included worker-priests, now found in the Anglican Communion in a related form variously called Self-Supporting Ministry (SSM) or Non-Stipendiary Ministry (NSM). This book focuses on one of the most recent developments, the creation of Ordained Local Ministry. After chapters that consider preliminary questions of the nature of ministry, such as authority in the church and Holy Orders, Noel Cox argues that the crucial distinction between these and other forms of ministry is that the Ordained Local Minister (OLM) is overtly ordained specifically for a given locality (variously defined); they are a deacon or priest for a specific church, parish, benefice, or deanery, rather than of the universal church. Their introduction inevitably raises difficult ecclesiological questions, which Cox examines.

Forming Deacons: Ministers of Soul and Leaven consists of essays by recognized leaders in diaconate formation, many of whom contributed to the preparation of the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States, promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2004. While not a commentary on it, these essays take the National Directory as their reference point and foundation. Written from the multifaceted perspectives of pastors, deacons, academics, and church officials--all of whom are directly involved in the formation of deacons--Forming Deacons offers valuable insights on the process of implementing in practical terms the theories presented in the National Directory. This book will be a valuable resource for bishops, their staffs, all those involved in the formation of deacons, and diaconate aspirants and candidates. +

Develops a vision of the distinctive ministerial identity of deacons that is theologically rigorous and practically useful, combining two complementary images: "icon of Christ the servant" and "minister of the threshold."