JUNE 2020 ISSUE: Member Comments
JUNE 2020 COMMONWEAL ISSUE
COLUMN
Reopening churches by Rita Ferrone
SHORT TAKES
A gay priest’s vocation by James Alison
‘The 1619 Project’ by Andrew Bacevich
COVID-19 in Mexico City by Joseph Sorrentino
ARTICLES
What are deacons for? by Christopher Ruddy, Thomas Baker, William T. Ditewig
Theology in a neoliberal age by Paul Lakeland
Martin Buber’s life of dialogue by Patrick Jordan
INTERVIEW
Jonathan Stevenson with Rand Richards Cooper
ARTS
Dorothea Lange’s humble gaze by Griffin Oleynick
BOOKS
The Thirty-Year Genocide by Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi Reviewed by Gabriel Said Reynolds
Places I’ve Taken My Body by Molly McCully Brown Reviewed by Katherine Lucky
From the Underground Church to Freedom by Tomáš Halík Reviewed by Santiago Ramos
Unbelievers by Alec Ryrie Reviewed by Costica Bradatan
Zed by Joanna Kavenna Reviewed by Valerie Sayers
RELIGION BOOKNOTES
Luke Timothy Johnson
POETRY
“Aftermaths” by Peter Cooley
“The Proof Cloth” by Nate Klug
“Sit Tibi Terra Levis” by Deborah Warren
LAST WORD
The ‘incomparable’ Mary Ward by Jerry Ryan
CLOSING SHOT
Andrew Steiner
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What are Deacons for? An exchange
ReplyDeleteThese articles are a response to Francis statement that deacons are “guardians of service not first class altar boys or second class priests.”
Christopher Ruddy uses exegete John N. Collins to argue that deacons are heralds of the Gospel rather than humble servants of charity and justice. He argues that the Church’s diakonia is not humble service but evangelization and apostolic service. Pope Francis had indeed said that the Church is not an NGO, another non-profit doing good. However he has also said that everyone in the church is called to humble service, including himself as “the servant of the servants of God.”
Thomas Baker, as a deacon, has several interesting points: 1) that deacon should be more field representatives of the Church working in innovative settings that are not possible for priests, 2)
that there is too much diaconal theory and not enough pastoral imagination, and 3) that deacons who are theoretically ordained to service the bishop (i.e. the diocese) actually end up serving a priest in a parish.
William Ditewig argues that intrinsic unity of the deacon’s ministry of Word, sacrament and charity have been well established by the American bishops. He claims the real challenge is that the growth of the deaconate has taken place at the same time as an explosive growth of lay ministry and a decline in vocations to the priesthood. Deacons tend to be asked to replace priests.
None of these authors take up another challenge by Pope Francis who on several occasions has asked why ordain a perfectly good lay leader as a deacon. He applies this to men as well as women. Do we want to create a situation in which good lay people think that they need to be ordained as a deacon? With Francis, I think clericalism is THE problem in the Church. The “humble servant” model of ministry whether of deacons, priests, bishops or pope has been one of the few barriers to clericalism.