Permanent diaconate east vs. west

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Does the eastern Catholic Church have a permanent diaconate akin to the Roman Catholic Church? If so, what are the similarities and differences?
 
Yes, Eastern Catholic Rites have permanent deacons, as does the Orthodox Church. They fulfill the same role as deacons in the Catholic Church.
 
Yes, they do - in fact, the reinstitution of the non-transitional diaconate in the West was done with the praxis of the East in mind.

At least in the Byzantine Rite, deacons do not bless, or solemnly officiate at baptisms or weddings. They may distribute Holy Communion. Their role is usually one of service (diakonia), which varies depending on their assignment, and may utilize skills they possess from secular training (building commission, administrative work, teaching). At the liturgy, they intone petitions for prayer, and directives to the priest and congregation.

Jeff Mierzejewski

(By the way, I was ordained a deacon for the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh last Sunday.)
 
ByzKat said:
Yes, they do - in fact, the reinstitution of the non-transitional diaconate in the West was done with the praxis of the East in mind.

At least in the Byzantine Rite, deacons do not bless, or solemnly officiate at baptisms or weddings. They may distribute Holy Communion. Their role is usually one of service (diakonia), which varies depending on their assignment, and may utilize skills they possess from secular training (building commission, administrative work, teaching). At the liturgy, they intone petitions for prayer, and directives to the priest and congregation.

Jeff Mierzejewski

(By the way, I was ordained a deacon for the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh last Sunday.)
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Fr. Dcn. Jeff,

Congratulations on your ordination!

Regarding the differences between the diaconate in East and West, am I correct to infer from your post that Latin-rite deacons have a much wider range of liturgical roles they can assume?
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
Fr. Dcn. Jeff,

Congratulations on your ordination!

Regarding the differences between the diaconate in East and West, am I correct to infer from your post that Latin-rite deacons have a much wider range of liturgical roles they can assume?
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Latin Rite deacons seem to be allowed more autonomy to celebrate Sacraments without the presence of a priest. Eastern deacons celebrate liturgically in a much fuller way, supporting the priest, usually never independently. Many roles that Latin deacons are considered today “ordinary ministers”, are still Eastern deacons “extraordinary” role.
 
SyroMalankara said:
Latin Rite deacons seem to be allowed more autonomy to celebrate Sacraments without the presence of a priest. Eastern deacons celebrate liturgically in a much fuller way, supporting the priest, usually never independently. Many roles that Latin deacons are considered today “ordinary ministers”, are still Eastern deacons “extraordinary” role.
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Ah, okay. Is this greater autonomy a long-standing difference? Or of more recent origin?
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
Ah, okay. Is this greater autonomy a long-standing difference? Or of more recent origin?
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The independence of the diaconate within the Latin Church seems to be of recent origin, but I am not an expert on regional differences or local variances within the Occidental Churches.
 
SyroMalankara said:
Latin Rite deacons seem to be allowed more autonomy to celebrate Sacraments without the presence of a priest. Eastern deacons celebrate liturgically in a much fuller way, supporting the priest, usually never independently. Many roles that Latin deacons are considered today “ordinary ministers”, are still Eastern deacons “extraordinary” role.
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I wouldn’t call that “more autonomy”

Deacons can only perform two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Matrimony, and that is ONLY when those two sacraments are performed outside of Mass. These are the same two sacraments which are valid (though not always licit) to be performed by lay people (which is why the Church accepts the Baptisms and Marriages of non-Catholics).

In regards to baptism: Deacons only baptize when the pastor asks/assigns them to do so (except in the case of an emergency baptism, which is the case for everyone).

Holy Matrimony can be performed by a Deacon only when there isn’t a nuptial mass. This usually only happens in mixed marriages or when a large portion of the people attending the Mass are not Catholic. Typically, this only happens when the Deacon is specifically requested, since most people want their priest to marry them.

So I would argue that Latin Deacon is still an “extraordinary minister” of Baptism and Holy Matrimony (even though a Deacon might do a lot of Baptisms).

God Bless
 
ByzKat said:
Yes, they do - in fact, the reinstitution of the non-transitional diaconate in the West was done with the praxis of the East in mind.

At least in the Byzantine Rite, deacons do not bless, or solemnly officiate at baptisms or weddings. They may distribute Holy Communion. Their role is usually one of service (diakonia), which varies depending on their assignment, and may utilize skills they possess from secular training (building commission, administrative work, teaching). At the liturgy, they intone petitions for prayer, and directives to the priest and congregation.

Jeff Mierzejewski

(By the way, I was ordained a deacon for the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh last Sunday.)
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Congrats Deacon!
 
phil19034 said:
I wouldn’t call that “more autonomy”

Deacons can only perform two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Matrimony, and that is ONLY when those two sacraments are performed outside of Mass. These are the same two sacraments which are valid (though not always licit) to be performed by lay people (which is why the Church accepts the Baptisms and Marriages of non-Catholics).

In regards to baptism: Deacons only baptize when the pastor asks/assigns them to do so (except in the case of an emergency baptism, which is the case for everyone).
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Well, ok, but a Eastern pastor would probably never make this request of a Deacon since a licit baptism (outside an emergency) requires many priestly prayers that a Deacon cannot celebrate in an Eastern Church context.
Holy Matrimony can be performed by a Deacon only when there isn’t a nuptial mass. This usually only happens in mixed marriages or when a large portion of the people attending the Mass are not Catholic. Typically, this only happens when the Deacon is specifically requested, since most people want their priest to marry them…
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An Eastern deacon cannot marry any Easterners validly, a priest is required for validity.
 
ByzKat said:
Yes, they do - in fact, the reinstitution of the non-transitional diaconate in the West was done with the praxis of the East in mind.

At least in the Byzantine Rite, deacons do not bless, or solemnly officiate at baptisms or weddings. They may distribute Holy Communion. Their role is usually one of service (diakonia), which varies depending on their assignment, and may utilize skills they possess from secular training (building commission, administrative work, teaching). At the liturgy, they intone petitions for prayer, and directives to the priest and congregation.

Jeff Mierzejewski

(By the way, I was ordained a deacon for the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh last Sunday.)
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Congratulations Father Deacon.
 
ByzKat said:
Yes, they do - in fact, the reinstitution of the non-transitional diaconate in the West was done with the praxis of the East in mind.

At least in the Byzantine Rite, deacons do not bless, or solemnly officiate at baptisms or weddings. They may distribute Holy Communion. Their role is usually one of service (diakonia), which varies depending on their assignment, and may utilize skills they possess from secular training (building commission, administrative work, teaching). At the liturgy, they intone petitions for prayer, and directives to the priest and congregation.

Jeff Mierzejewski

(By the way, I was ordained a deacon for the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh last Sunday.)
Click to expand...
Fr. Dcn. Mierzejewski,

Congratulations, and may God grant you many happy and blessed years!

(Our small chapel here in San Antonio [Pittsburgh archeparchy] does not have a deacon, so our priest sings the intentions and does the other diaconal roles, except when it is obvious he should not, such as “Give the blessing”.)
 
Thank you for correcting me. And congrats on your daughter’s wedding, I’m sure it will be an awesome experience for you
 
Thank you for correcting.

I obviously didn’t word my post correctly… I didn’t mean that the Church considered the Deacon’s to technically be extraordinary ministers, I meant they are not the typical minister (though they are coming very typical in regards to baptism. That’s why I put quotes around “extraordinary minister,” but I realize now I was far from clear.
 
At least in the Mesopotamian (East Syriac) tradition, deacons do not proclaim the gospel or give the sermon. They are the ordinary readers of the Epistle. Of course there are no deacons in the Syro Malabar Church, so this is all in theory.
 
yawsep1569 said:
At least in the Mesopotamian (East Syriac) tradition, deacons do not proclaim the gospel or give the sermon. They are the ordinary readers of the Epistle. Of course there are no deacons in the Syro Malabar Church, so this is all in theory.
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There are deacons, mostly seminarians and in religious communities:
 
yawsep1569 said:
At least in the Mesopotamian (East Syriac) tradition, deacons do not proclaim the gospel or give the sermon. They are the ordinary readers of the Epistle. Of course there are no deacons in the Syro Malabar Church, so this is all in theory.
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The Gospel is properly proclaimed by the arch-deacon.
 
SyroMalankara said:
There are deacons, mostly seminarians and in religious communities:]
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If you took out “mostly”, I could agree with you. Seminarians are not permanent deacons, which is what thread refers to. I would be willing to venture that even these Redemptorists are only transitional deacons. If the number of deacons is even one percent of that of priests, I would be astonished. The transitional diaconate is a travesty and has played a role in the liturgical nonsense often seen. Of course there are cultural reasons for the disappearance of deacons, but it is still sad.
 
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