By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The 10 men of the Diocese of Honolulu’s eighth permanent diaconate class will be ordained by Bishop Larry Silva this January and February in four ceremonies on four islands.
The deacons-to-be range in age from 47 to 67. They come from 10 parishes on four islands. All are married. They represent a wide range of occupations from a physician to a U.S. Postal Service clerk to a mortgage loan consultant to a parish business manager.
Of the 10, three are Hawaii-born. All the rest were born on the Mainland except for one born in Puerto Rico and one in the Philippines.
The diaconate is the first of three levels of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the others being priest and bishop. Like the priestly ordination, the sacrament is conferred by the laying on of hands by a bishop. These men remain “permanent” deacons as compared to “transitional” deacons who move on to priesthood.
After ordination the deacons’ liturgical garment is a T-shaped outer vestment called a dalmatic with a stole draped over the left shoulder crossing the chest diagonally.
Deacons embrace a ministry of service, mostly in parishes assisting the pastor and facilitating lay ministry. In Hawaii permanent deacons also serve in prison, hospital and social ministries.
Their ordinations will bring the number of active permanent deacons in Hawaii to 62, a number that includes nine deacons from other dioceses working here. A few more deacons who are retired continue to serve in parishes part-time.
The candidates for ordination have all completed five years of education and training starting in 2013, mostly at “formation” weekends once a month at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. While church law prevents women from being ordained, the wives were required to take the training alongside their husbands.
Their courses cover Scripture, philosophy, theology, canon law, church history and Catholic social teaching. The deacons-in-training are also taught homiletics, sacramental rubrics and parish administration, and receive pastoral field experience in hospital, prison and social ministry.
Their most important and often most challenging task is developing a deeper spirituality and a solid and disciplined prayer life.
As part of their preparation, the men passed three major steps: on Jan. 12, 2014, the Rite of Candidacy, which marked them as official nominees for the diaconate, on Jan. 10, 2016, the Rite of Lector, which gave them the task of proclaiming the liturgical Scripture readings, and on Feb. 12, 2017, the Rite of Acolyte, which allowed the candidate to assist the priest at Mass.
The diaconate is an ancient order restored in 1967 as a permanent ministry in the modern church by Pope Paul VI. The permanent diaconate was approved in the United States in 1968. The first U.S. deacons were ordained in 1971. Hawaii’s first deacon class was ordained in 1981.
