The deacon , of the Greek diakonos = servant, is a degree of the Sacrement of the Ordre in the Catholic church and the orthodoxe Églises. Whereas the priest S are the collaborators of the bishop in his character Sacerdotal, the deacon is collaborator of the bishop in his character Ministériel.

Origin

It is in the Acts of the Apostles ( 6 : 1 and following) that it is made mention for the first time, men ordered for the service of their brothers. The deacon is then a man chosen by the Christian and which, after the laying on of hands by one of the apostles, has to deal with the most stripped community. Quickly, the deacons will have to manage the tangible properties of the incipient Church. Thus, were indicated according to the writings, the first 7 deacons of the primitive Église: Etienne (become St Etienne), the first martyr of Christendom; Philippe; Prochore; Nicanor; Tiller; Parménas and Nicolas.

In the Catholicism

History

During ages, the function of deacon little by little will evolve/move, in particular in the Latin Church: it seems that the need is less felt to have men devoted to the only service, the laic ones being often able to ensure the material spots diaconales. Little by little, the permanent diaconate disappears and the order of the deacons becomes only one stage towards ordination presbytérale. However, holy François d' Assise, founder of the franciscains at the 13th century, was deacon and remained. For as much, these cases rarefy at the end of the Middle Ages.

In the Eastern Catholic churches, the diaconate keeps its permanent character for those which wish it.

Following the proposals of the II^e council of the Vatican, the Roman Catholic church restores for its Latin part, by the Motu landlord of Paul VI Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem of June 18th, 1967, the permanent diaconate as well as ordination with the diaconate of married men.

Doctrinal base and role

In catholic theology, the priest is the sign of the Christ, head of the Church (its role is that of a rassemblor), the deacon, is to him sign of Christ servant.

The role of the deacon in the Roman Catholic church is defined by the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium : “According to the provisions taken by the qualified authority, it is up to the deacons to solemnly manage the baptism, to preserve and distribute Eucharistie, to assist, in the name of the Church, with the marriage and to bless it, carry money to dying, to give reading to faithful Holy Scripture, to inform and exhort the people, to govern the worship and the prayer of faithful, to be Ministers for sacramental, to govern the funeral rites and the burial. Devoted to the offices of charity and administration, the deacons have to remember the warning of Polycarpe saint: " To be miséricordieux, dedicated, to go according to the truth of the Lord who was made the servant of tous" ”

The minimum age required by Canon law (CIC §1031-2) is twenty-five years for the single person. The deacon, clerk, east compel with the clerical loads: reading of the Divine office, celibacy, port of a distinctive dress. For the grooms who become deacon, the necessary age is 35 years. In the event of widowhood, the groom-deacon then is subject to the rule of the celibacy.

The deacon in liturgy

In the catholic Liturgy, the deacon holds a place of servant with the furnace bridge: It carries a stole, related through to the left shoulder (Mister the Mayor the door on the right shoulder), symbolizing the load of the cross of Christ, it can be covered of a Dalmatique (of which the origin goes back to the 4th century), symbol of the service.

With the mass, it with the responsibility of proclaim the Gospel and can preach: It is, par excellence, the Minister for the word. During the eucharistic liturgy , it helps the priest, in particular for the preparation of the gifts: he fills with wine the chalice and water adds to it. It encourages the faithful ones to the gesture of peace. At the time of the communion, it distributes the Blessed Sacrament to the faithful ones. Lastly, it is him which sends faithful the " Go in the peace (and the joy) of Christ".

In the Orthodoxy

Eastern Christianity preserved the diaconate like standing order. A married man or a monk can be ordered deacon (then priest). The deacons take part in the life of the parochial community and Co-celebrate the liturgy (where, inter alia, they read the Gospel - without preaching) and encensent under the direction of a priest.

In Protestantism

A not very institutional ministry diaconal

The Protestant Churches know the ministry of deacons, in charge of the assistance to the poor. This ministry is exerted either through “Protestant institutions or works”, independent of the ecclesiastical structures strictly speaking , or within the framework of parochial diaconates .

A ministry of parochial deacon can be also exerted with regard to certain parts of the parochial population (youth, for example), beside the pastoral ministry plus general practitioner.

In France, the management of the goods of the Church remains the business of its bodies of government: general meetings and councils.

Communities of deaconesses

Are called deaconesses nuns devoted mainly to the service of the poor. This movement of Community life women developed at the beginning of the 19th century at the time of the Réveil. One finds deaconesses in all the Protestant Churches, of the Baptists to the reformed . It is in the Luthéranisme, their cradle, that these communities are most numerous.

Most of the time, their activity is similar to those of the orders of well-known apostolic nuns of the Catholicisme. They are nurses and teaching. See Deaconesses of Reuilly.

They are also théologiennes, specifically at the Diaconesses of Buc which belong to the deaconesses of Reuilly. Some are Pasteur S.

Other establishments of the deaconesses of Reuilly in France in particular to the Holy Mazet Voy in the High Loire and abroad in Norway, in Cameroun and in Polynesia. There exist deaconesses in Alsace, in particular has Strasbourg who have very an other history that the deaconesses of Reuilly.

If the majority of these religious communities receive unmarried women, one counts at least a community at the same time knowing:

1. Community life and life as a diaspora. The Diaspora members are generally married.
2. a presumedly female community and cash a deacon, who did not find of another refuge, and observing the rule of celibacy. The situation is rather close to that of the Abbaye of Fontevraud at the time of its foundation.

Appendices

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