Does this idea seem like a good one?

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Deacons who are ordained at a fairly young age, and have been devoted to the Church service for over 25-30 years, and have gained experience. They should be ordained priest by the bishop.

Now hold on now…

Even if these deacons have wives, they should still be ordained priest…Just not supported by the diocese or moved around like normal priest, still retain their jobs. They could really help out around the parish. Hear confessions and give daily mass. Just not have ALL the duties as a parish priest, just as a temp. priest as a former deacon.

This idea of mine really seems to fall into place. They really do not need all 6 years of seminary training because they are not going to be the permanent spiritual counselor, just the parish priest is… And since this deacon has over 30 years of Catholic clerical experience, he could be ordained a priest.

Now, most deacons are ordained at a fairly middle aged age and after 30 years, would refuse to be ordained a priest. But in case this was to ever happen, what are your opinions on this?
 
JD27076 said:
Deacons who are ordained at a fairly young age, and have been devoted to the Church service for over 25-30 years, and have gained experience. They should be ordained priest by the bishop.
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I believe the calling to the diaconate is considered a separate vocation from that to the priesthood so that would need to be addressed.

I could foresee the case where either the bishop or the deacon himself could raise this as a possibility for older deacons. But I can’t come close to imagining a situation where this would be the norm.

I am of the opinion that if parishes had more deacons now we might find we really don’t have as much of a priest shortage as we thought we had. I’d love to see having a dozen deacons per parish as the norm.
 
The perminant deaconate and the priesthood are different vocations. Simply being a deacon for a long time does not mean one should be a priest, much less a married priest.
 
I don’t agree that a deacon should be able to be in the confessional. While there are levels within the clergy, there is ONE level of the person of Christ. Either one is able to represent it (priests, bishops, cardinals, pope) or one is not (laity, deacons, religious life). I think to blur the line between that and to think that a deacon could grant confession based off of time served belittles the grace that is bestowed on clergy and clergy only.
 
Ophelia23 said:
I don’t agree that a deacon should be able to be in the confessional. While there are levels within the clergy, there is ONE level of the person of Christ. Either one is able to represent it (priests, bishops, cardinals, pope) or one is not (laity, deacons, religious life). I think to blur the line between that and to think that a deacon could grant confession based off of time served belittles the grace that is bestowed on clergy and clergy only.
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:confused: :confused: :confused:

Where did the idea that a deacon could hear confessions come from?
 
JD27076 said:
This idea of mine really seems to fall into place. They really do not need all 6 years of seminary training because they are not going to be the permanent spiritual counselor, just the parish priest is… And since this deacon has over 30 years of Catholic clerical experience, he could be ordained a priest.
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If they are celebrating Mass and hearing confessions, they should have the same training as priests do now.
 
JD27076 said:
Deacons who are ordained at a fairly young age, and have been devoted to the Church service for over 25-30 years, and have gained experience. They should be ordained priest by the bishop.

Now hold on now…

Even if these deacons have wives, they should still be ordained priest…Just not supported by the diocese or moved around like normal priest, still retain their jobs. They could really help out around the parish. Hear confessions and give daily mass. Just not have ALL the duties as a parish priest, just as a temp. priest as a former deacon.

This idea of mine really seems to fall into place. They really do not need all 6 years of seminary training because they are not going to be the permanent spiritual counselor, just the parish priest is… And since this deacon has over 30 years of Catholic clerical experience, he could be ordained a priest.

Now, most deacons are ordained at a fairly middle aged age and after 30 years, would refuse to be ordained a priest. But in case this was to ever happen, what are your opinions on this?
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Deacons already help out around the parish, giving the priest more time to devote to hearing confessions and celebrating Mass. :rolleyes:
 
The role of the deacon is very specifically spelled out - even in the Bible. Having more deacons to do the things they do well, like visit the sick, teach, help the poor, etc would give the priest more time to hear confessions and say daily Mass. Many of the things that takae a priest’s time are business issues of running the parish. In the US, many parishes are huge and running them is like having a business - staffing, finance, building codes, etc. Some things can’t be delegated, but many of them could to a competent deacon, parish committee, or lay leader.
 
:tiphat:Not really, there maybe a few deacons that would make good priests. :hmmm:
 
Ophelia23 said:
I don’t agree that a deacon should be able to be in the confessional. While there are levels within the clergy, there is ONE level of the person of Christ. Either one is able to represent it (priests, bishops, cardinals, pope) or one is not (laity, deacons, religious life). I think to blur the line between that and to think that a deacon could grant confession based off of time served belittles the grace that is bestowed on clergy and clergy only.
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Deacons are ordained clergy. They are not laity. They have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders as Deacons. The next two levels are being ordained as a priest, and then as a Bishop. The lines are not blurred for most people. They know very well that Deacons can’t hear confessions. There is no belittling of grace, there is a misunderstanding here of the place of the deacon–they are not grouped with the laity and religious, they are grouped with the ordained and receive the graces proper to their ordination.
 
CB_Catholic said:
Deacons are ordained clergy. They are not laity. They have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders as Deacons. The next two levels are being ordained as a priest, and then as a Bishop. The lines are not blurred for most people. They know very well that Deacons can’t hear confessions. There is no belittling of grace, there is a misunderstanding here of the place of the deacon–they are not grouped with the laity and religious, they are grouped with the ordained and receive the graces proper to their ordination.
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You are right, and I apologize for my mistake. I am simply (and inarticulately) trying to disagree with the OP’s suggestion that a deacon should hear confessions.
 
Ophelia23 said:
You are right, and I apologize for my mistake. I am simply (and inarticulately) trying to disagree with the OP’s suggestion that a deacon should hear confessions.
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I never said deacons should hear confessions. I said priest, who were former permanent deacons, should hear confessions.

But I don’t blame you, I could see the confusion that could arise from it. My apologies.
 
I know there were some post about a deacon and priest being two seperate vocations, but if you think about it…Maybe God is calling this permanent deacon, again, to have a higher purpose in the Church now that he is older and a lot more time on his hands and can really help Gods people…And the permanent deacon can always refuse the ordination.

But this was just my idea…
 
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