Question about Permanent Catholic Deacons

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@(name removed by moderator),

while I’m sure it might be different in other dioceses, do Deacons have to pay for their seminary (Master’s in Theology) training? Of do the dioceses typically pay for all of it?
 
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Sorry, again, I don’t know. They are completely separate from the deacon class.
 
In my opinion the time required to train to be a deacon is too long. It should be 2 years maximum. 5 years is ridiculous.
 
I’m discerning the diaconate in my diocese, but have some reservations (I’m 37, two kids under the age of 5). If I’m accepted into the next phase, it’s a two year discernment. After that, I would have to apply again and be accepted into formation. That’s another three years, with each year being at a different parish (perhaps akin to pastoral internship), plus a service component. All told, the process (including the stage I’m in now) is at least 6 years.

Personally, I think it’s good that it’s that long. It’s a serious matter, affecting more than just me. And, with receiving holy orders, there’s a significant responsibility to the Church and her flock. It shouldn’t be as quick and easy as an MBA.
 
Some places have dropped it down to a 3 year program. I’m not sure if they’re taking the same amount of classes, though. In my formation, we had a year of discernment and then we have semesters (4 months) of each class. Once the discernment and academics are done, we’ll have 5 months of “practicals” before being ordained. We meet for a weekend a month in a central location (2 hours from my house) and the rest is done on-line throughout the month.
 
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stpiosson said:
In my opinion the time required to train to be a deacon is too long. It should be 2 years maximum. 5 years is ridiculous.
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Becoming a Catholic deacon is a permanent position- its not just someone who is trusted with the keys to the church building and volunteers for various projects.

Although the title is the same, it really isn’t comparable to being a deacon in the Baptist Church. A neighbor of mine started attending a baptist church and they made him a deacon within 3 months- I lent him a black tie for the ceremony.
 
You misread, what I went through was just the 12 week discernment portion and it was mandatory that wives went through with us. Also, once a month there was a Sunday afternoon for a mini-retreat, or conferences and of course, always a Mass.

After the discernment process, if you were accepted and desired to go further, it was then it was like what you describe here, except they didn’t have to learn Spanish.

Like I posted, we started with twentyfive men, but only three ended up being ordained five years later.

Jim
 
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LundyLund said:
I’m discerning the diaconate in my diocese, but have some reservations (I’m 37, two kids under the age of 5). If I’m accepted into the next phase, it’s a two year discernment. After that, I would have to apply again and be accepted into formation. That’s another three years, with each year being at a different parish (perhaps akin to pastoral internship), plus a service component.
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That’s pretty interesting. When would you actually take the academic side of formation? Is that somehow in the 2-3 years of discernment? The academic side of my formation is pretty tough- I can’t imagine having to study and basically internship at multiple parishes while doing it.
 
There was an academic component in this phase. There’s an academic component in the next, and during formation. It sounds pretty rigorous.
 
Did you take academics during the summer, too? My diocese used to do summer assignments, but changed it in my class to study year round now. I think Homiletics is one of my next classes, actually. I have four more academic classes to go…taking Christian Ethics this semester.
 
Augustinian said:
Although the title is the same, it really isn’t comparable to being a deacon in the Baptist Church. A neighbor of mine started attending a baptist church and they made him a deacon within 3 months- I lent him a black tie for the ceremony.
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Lol…This tests my pride (probably a good thing). When Protestants find out I am a deacon and they reply “me too”. Ummm. Not really the same thing at all. I usually just smile and say “That is wonderful” without going into a detailed explanation.
 
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