His ordination to the priesthood could be held off for any length of time or he could just stay a permanent deacon.
Once a man is ordained into Holy Orders he can not licitly marry.
Can. 1087 Those in sacred orders invalidly attempt marriage.
You should not be giving him any advice at all. He should be working with his vocation director and spiritual director to work through whatever is causing him to struggle. We should all be praying for men in formation that they are strengthened at all times by the Holy Spirit. Whatever decision your friend makes should be informed by prayer and fasting.
Technically there is no difference between a “permanent” deacon and a “transitional” deacon. Its the same rite of ordination. It is what follows.
Which leads to a whole different problem of them getting ordained and then moving out into the “outside world” and not making it,Strange cases. Guess anything is possible. What I have seen are young men dropping out way before being ordained transitional deacon. When you count all the work of study, formation, and sweat and tears for eight or more years-they usually want to be ordained! The seminarians that I know personally, follow strict rules, and are so busy that they have little contact with the outside world.
There is no law that allows those who are either ordaine or in vows to marry and remain in the clerical state or religious life. Nor is there a historical precedence. Therefore, a celibate deacon is bound to celibacy. If he is dispensed from the vow of celibacy, he is laicized…
You cannot be a permanent transitional deacon. You are either one or the other. Canon law is clear that a man who is ordained a deacon with the view to being ordained a priest must be ordained a priest, unless some impediment arises. The individual’s desire not to be ordained to the priesthood is sufficient impediment, because you cannot ordain anyone against their will. But he is a permanent deacon.
There are some truths to your comments, but not completely. I am in formation to the permanent diaconate, last of five years. A man ordained to the transitional diaconate is a transitional deacon, period. He does not become a permanent deacon as this was not his intent. A permanent deacon is ordained to the permanent diaconate to be a permanent deacon, period. The duties and rights are different. This is different always; if permanent deacon and a transitional deacon serve together with a priest at a mass the permanent deacon will proclaim the gospel, not the transitional or the priest. For that matter, it is proper for the permanent deacon to proclaim the Gospel even when the Pope is the celebrant. Although if the Pope ever tells me when we are vesting in prep for mass that he wants to proclaim the Gospel, who am I to object?You cannot be a permanent transitional deacon. You are either one or the other. Canon law is clear that a man who is ordained a deacon with the view to being ordained a priest must be ordained a priest, unless some impediment arises. The individual’s desire not to be ordained to the priesthood is sufficient impediment, because you cannot ordain anyone against their will. But he is a permanent deacon.
There are cases of transitional deacons whose ordination is postpone indefinately, either by the individual’s request or by his major superior. That’s a little difference. When the circumstance change, the person will be ordained.
The difference between the two deacons is that canon law says that a transitional deacon must be ordained a priest, if the conditions are met. A permanent deacon is not guaranteed priestly ordination. However, both are deacons with equal rights and equal rank within the Sacrament of Holy Orders. They belong to the Order of Deacons.
FYI, a priest is also a deacon. The ordination to the priesthood does not undo the ordination to the diaconate. The sacramental and ministerial duties and powers of the diaconate are preserved and exercised. The ordination to the presbyteral state confers upon a man the power to absolve, consecrate and bless. The other ministerial and sacramental powers are not bestowed upon ordination to the presbyterate. The man already has those from his ordination to the diaconate.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
I believe that the differences that you are pointing out depend on several factors, actually two. The first, of course, is whether the transitional deacon is secular or religious. If he is secular, then the rules of the local diocese apply to him. It may be the case that in many dioceses transitional deacons who do not become priests are in limbo, to use your term. But this is not the case in religious orders of Pontifical Right. In the orders, not the congregations (they are an animal with different stripes), the orders, the monks and friars enter for the purpose of being monks or friars, not for the purpose of Holy Orders. Therefore, whether a transitiional deacon becomes a priest or not does not affect the individual’s status in the order. He will always be either a friar or a monk. In the orders, the friars or the monks exercise whatever ministry they are called to exercise, not by the bishop, but by the major superior or the Abbot.
I am not qualified to debate or discuss what takes place in the order in which you belong, or any order for that matter. All I know is diocesan life. Here the Bishop has all control; the priests within the parishes have the right to celebrate the mass through the bishop, not their ordination. The deacon’s rights and duties are controlled entirely by the local ordinary.I believe that the differences that you are pointing out depend on several factors, actually two. The first, of course, is whether the transitional deacon is secular or religious. If he is secular, then the rules of the local diocese apply to him. It may be the case that in many dioceses transitional deacons who do not become priests are in limbo, to use your term. But this is not the case in religious orders of Pontifical Right. In the orders, not the congregations (they are an animal with different stripes), the orders, the monks and friars enter for the purpose of being monks or friars, not for the purpose of Holy Orders. Therefore, whether a transitiional deacon becomes a priest or not does not affect the individual’s status in the order. He will always be either a friar or a monk. In the orders, the friars or the monks exercise whatever ministry they are called to exercise, not by the bishop, but by the major superior or the Abbot.
What happens in the orders is that if for some reason a transitional deacon does not get ordained a priest he simply remains a deacon, but his superior grants him the faculties of any other deacon and assigns hiim as he would any other member of the order. It is obvious that if the superior assigns a cleric (deacon, priest or bishop) to work in a diocesan parish or diocesan ministry, he must give an account to the local bishop. But generally, these agreements are already made between the orders and the Ordinaries, so that the bishops only ask for names when the assignments are made and the faculties are granted. In the rare cases where a bishop does not grant faculties within his diocese, the Abbots, Priors and Guardians of the orders still have canonical authority to grant faculties within their own oratories, chapels, friaries, priories and monasteries and other facilities that are within the jurisdiction of the order.
It is very difficult to say that X happens to every transitional deacon. Because there are variations according to dioceses and between the diocesan clergy and the orders. I can’t speak about what happens in congregations, because I don’t belong to a congregation. Most congregations are either clerical or brothers. This would not be an issue that would come up in a congregation of brothers. How do clerks regular (clerical congregations) such as Jesuits, Salesians, Vicentians and Fathers of Mercy etc deal with this, I have no idea. The rules that govern them are very different from those that govern the religious orders of men. But in the religious orders of men, the ordained ministry is within the call to religoius life. Therefore, it is dealt with very differently than it would be in a diocese.
I can say this about the orders. In the orders the permanent deacon is an exception, not the rule. The rule is the non-clerical brother, then the brother priest. There are very few brother deacons in the orders. Those who are ordained deacons do get ordained priests after one year.
I do know that in the orders, the few men who ask to be permanent deacons go through the same formation as everyone else: 6, 4 and 4, between mystical theology for religious life, pre-theology and divinity. There is no difference in the education or the formation program between the permanent deacon and the priest in an order, unless the major superior makes a concession. But these are exceptions, not the rule.
We conclude again with the same point, the rules are not hard and fast. They are rather fluid depending on whether you belong to a diocese, order or congregation. Even if you belong to a diocese, each diocese is a world unto itself, as long as they comply with canon law. Canon law is deliberately broad on some of these subjects. The 1983 code allows the dioceses some flexibility and at the same time tried very hard not to create difficult situations for the old orders that have traditions that go back over 1,000 years.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF