Deacons not ‘stop-gap’ solution for priest shortage, archbishop warns

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says that deacons are not replacements for priests

Deacons are not substitutes for priests, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said.

Speaking in St Mary’s Pro Cathedral at the ordination of eight new permanent deacons for the Archdiocese of Dublin, Dr Martin said the restoration of the ministry of deacons was “one of the significant achievements of the Vatican Council’s reflection on the Church”.

The diaconate, he said, was a permanent ministry with its own distinct characteristics.

As such, he said, it should not be seen as “a stop-gap solution invented to address a fall in the number of priests”, but as “a call to witness a particular dimension of the mission of the Church”.

Arguing that diaconal ministry can be “a ministry to priests”, pushing them “to more effectively witness to service”, Dr Martin said the restoration of the diaconate should provoke “a deeper reflection on the plurality of ministries and charisms which are present in the Church”.

The eight new deacons bring to 30 the number of permanent deacons in the archdiocese. Among those ordained on June 4 was onetime Government Secretary General Dermot McCarthy.