By Dr Anthony Gooley
A PARISH is a portion of the local church (diocese) and a local church is first and foremost a Eucharistic assembly gathered around its bishop.
In every diocese there is only one bishop who is the head of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church that gathers there.
Auxiliary bishops, if there are any, are bishops of another diocese who are assisting the local bishop.
The bishop stands as the Vicar of Christ in his diocese.
Liturgically we symbolise this through the bishop’s greeting at Mass, which is, “Peace be with you.” The words the Risen Christ speaks to the assembled Church.
When deacons or priests preside at a liturgy they say, “The Lord be with you.”
When a bishop celebrates Mass, especially in the cathedral, there are seven lamps or candles representing the lamps in the visions of the Book of Revelations, and the bishop stands like Christ among them.
At episcopal liturgies it is recommended that there should be in the assembly the laity, deacons and priests so that the Church in its fullness is more visibly present.
The bishop is the chief steward of the mysteries (sacraments), the teacher, and the presider at the Eucharist in the local diocese.
The Mass is celebrated in communion with the diocesan bishop, who is always named in the Eucharistic prayer.
At Mass the bishop presides because he is the bishop but a priest presides because there is a bishop. Priests preside in the name of the bishop over the Eucharistic assembly.
The universal Catholic Church exists in and from these local Churches and is a communion of communions of Churches with the bishop of Rome presiding as head of the College of Bishops.
Each bishop represents his local church to the universal Church and through his communion with all other bishops represents the universal church to the local.
Therefore the nature of the Church, in its own essence and organisation at local and universal level is a communion.
The Eucharist is the highpoint and sign of that communion. Every local parish Mass participates in the essential Eucharistic structure of the Church.
This entire introduction is essential to answering the question; can a deacon be appointed as pastoral leader of a parish? The simple answer is yes he can.
Canon 517 provides for such an appointment and the Directory for the Ministry and Life of Deacons expands on the interpretation of that canon.
If a bishop is truly unable to appoint a priest to the care of a parish, because of a shortage, he may appoint a deacon.
If a deacon is available he must, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, appoint a deacon in preference to a lay person.
Such an appointment is always an extraordinary appointment and as soon as a priest becomes available he should appoint one.
Deacons ordinarily are not appointed as leaders of parish communities nor lay people because of the Eucharistic nature and structure of the Church.
If a parish is to fully reveal the nature of the Church it must have the capacity to celebrate the Eucharist.
Even a Liturgy of the Word with the Communion is not a substitute.
Therefore a parish needs a priest to preside in the name of the bishop at Eucharist.
This tells us that there is no substitute for priestly ministry in the Church.
We need to pray for and nurture vocations to the priesthood if the Church is to maintain its Eucharistic nature.
Deacons will not help with a shortage of priests because theirs is a distinct ministry.
The Second Vatican Council restored the diaconate because of a shortage of deacons, not priests.
The Council wanted to restore the fullness of what we believe about the Sacrament of Holy Orders, that it consists of bishops, priests and deacons.
It also wanted to restore the fullness of the Eucharistic assembly with the laity, deacons, priests all gathered around the bishop.
We should not encourage appointment of deacons as leaders of parish communities but encourage the full flourishing of the ministry of deacons across the diocese, serving parishes and diocesan agencies.
If we regularly appointed deacons as parish leaders their ministry would come to resemble something like substitutes for priests or half priests.
Every deacon, like every lay person and priest, needs to have a place in a particular Eucharistic community or parish.
Even if a deacon’s primary ministry is diocesan or in some other role like theologian or factory worker, he can contribute to the life of the local parish.
Depending on his availability for ministry he may offer some genuine support to the local parish priest or even a group of priests in a deanery.
Deacons can preside at baptisms, weddings and funerals and may be able to assist priests in large and busy parishes by sharing some of the load and freeing the priest up for other pastoral and administrative work associated with leading a parish.
Deacons can have a central role in pastoral care of the sick.
They can visit the sick, celebrate communion as viaticum – the last rites the church offers the dying – and tend to their pastoral and spiritual needs.
There is so much scope for deacons to assist in a parish either as a full time minister or part time, which will offer real support to a priest, without his needing to be appointed leader.
Options for collaborative ministry among priests, deacons and laity abound for those open to the possibilities.
We should pray daily for an increase in vocations to the diaconate if we wish to see the gift which the Holy Spirit has given the Church flourish.
It is a ministry with enormous potential for discovering new ways of ministry and new fields for new evangelisation.
We don’t want to repeat an old pattern found in the pre-Second Vatican Council model which made priesthood the end and measure of all ordained ministry.
Diaconate offers something different, not just another name for a parish pastoral leader.
Rev Dr Anthony Gooley is a theologian and a deacon in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
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