D
Deacon2006
Guest
In my formation deacons and their wives have shocked me continually. One wife sits at the back of the church during the mass knitting and tells people a little voice has told her not to convert. Another deacons wife strolled into the sanctuary when a priest was vesting and pronounced that there are too many men here and she will have to change that. The best was when I saw two deacons’ wives adjusting each other auras?? through some astral non-touch massage??? 
Most supervising deacons and their wives involved in my formation consider themselves to be deacon couples as if the wife was in some way ordained themselves. The wives take great pains to tell jokes and post cartoons in newsletters that display men in a bumbling light and consider it their responsibility to keep their husbands humble.
We are told that at ordination in many dioceses they have a joint service for the wives investing the husband and wife as a deacon team. They are working on our bishop to bring about the same thing here. I have even heard one wife say she is an equal partner in ministry with her husband as she always goes with him on his diaconal duties. She is bitter that she is denied ordination.
The lack of clarity being exercised on the roles between the clerical husband and laity wife, and in some cases the corrupted spiritual development of these couples have profound implications on the fidelity of a parish. It seems to me that a major problem being faced by the clergy today is this retread counter cultural element in the deaconate. It is shocking to hear what these deacons and wives think of the church. The vast majority of deacon couples I have met at the seminary routinely advocate liturgical abuse denounced by Rome in Redemptionis Sacramentum. More then once these socks with sandals activists have publicly announced to my formation class that Pope John Paul is actively working against the Holy Spirit and Vatican II.
It breaks my heart to hear that deacons have the highest rate of divorce among any catholic demographic, however I’m not surprised from what I have seen. Radical faithfulness and humility to the teachings of the church is what is missing here and not some ultra feminist agenda through the guise of the deaconate. Ordaining dissenters and allowing their wives to believe they have a role that just doesn’t exist clearly would cause tremendous stress on a marriage. Personally I have come to the conclusion that any formation program that doesn’t also perform psychological testing and suitability interviews on the wife independent of the husband is reckless in its selection of candidates.
The good news is things are changing in my diocese. Through our conversations with some orthodox priests at the seminary we are optimistic that it is just a matter of time before the orthodox deacons fill the diocese positions and formation committee roles just as the young priests, nuns and laity are doing all through the church.
St. Stephen pray for deacons and their wives who bear the cross of dissent, by quiet association, in their community and pray also that many more faithful servants of the Church make it through formation. But most of all pray for those deacons and their wives who for whatever reason reject the teachings of the church guide them so they may truly find peace in the love of faithful service and not in the disordered agendas of the world.
God Bless
What my wife and I have found out on our journey is that it really is much harder to be a dissenter then to be faithful but it is even harder still to become faithful once you are a dissenter.

Most supervising deacons and their wives involved in my formation consider themselves to be deacon couples as if the wife was in some way ordained themselves. The wives take great pains to tell jokes and post cartoons in newsletters that display men in a bumbling light and consider it their responsibility to keep their husbands humble.
We are told that at ordination in many dioceses they have a joint service for the wives investing the husband and wife as a deacon team. They are working on our bishop to bring about the same thing here. I have even heard one wife say she is an equal partner in ministry with her husband as she always goes with him on his diaconal duties. She is bitter that she is denied ordination.
The lack of clarity being exercised on the roles between the clerical husband and laity wife, and in some cases the corrupted spiritual development of these couples have profound implications on the fidelity of a parish. It seems to me that a major problem being faced by the clergy today is this retread counter cultural element in the deaconate. It is shocking to hear what these deacons and wives think of the church. The vast majority of deacon couples I have met at the seminary routinely advocate liturgical abuse denounced by Rome in Redemptionis Sacramentum. More then once these socks with sandals activists have publicly announced to my formation class that Pope John Paul is actively working against the Holy Spirit and Vatican II.
It breaks my heart to hear that deacons have the highest rate of divorce among any catholic demographic, however I’m not surprised from what I have seen. Radical faithfulness and humility to the teachings of the church is what is missing here and not some ultra feminist agenda through the guise of the deaconate. Ordaining dissenters and allowing their wives to believe they have a role that just doesn’t exist clearly would cause tremendous stress on a marriage. Personally I have come to the conclusion that any formation program that doesn’t also perform psychological testing and suitability interviews on the wife independent of the husband is reckless in its selection of candidates.
The good news is things are changing in my diocese. Through our conversations with some orthodox priests at the seminary we are optimistic that it is just a matter of time before the orthodox deacons fill the diocese positions and formation committee roles just as the young priests, nuns and laity are doing all through the church.
St. Stephen pray for deacons and their wives who bear the cross of dissent, by quiet association, in their community and pray also that many more faithful servants of the Church make it through formation. But most of all pray for those deacons and their wives who for whatever reason reject the teachings of the church guide them so they may truly find peace in the love of faithful service and not in the disordered agendas of the world.
God Bless
What my wife and I have found out on our journey is that it really is much harder to be a dissenter then to be faithful but it is even harder still to become faithful once you are a dissenter.