By Deacon Adrian Cullen - Director, Permanent Diaconate for the Diocese of Westminster
Permanent Deacons from across the world gathered in Rome, between 20th – 23rd February, to celebrate the Jubilee of Deacons. Deacons came from the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Europe, with more than thirty representing the UK. Many came with their wives and families, making a total of 6,000 ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.
Earlier in the week, from 17th-20th February, 180 delegates from 26 countries attended a conference, also in Rome, organised by the International Diaconate Centre, with the title of ‘Deacons: Joyful Witnesses of Hope’. The Conference included presentations and discussions on marriage and the diaconate, deacons as peacemakers, communion, mission and synodality.
On the following Friday the Jubilee of Deacons formally opened across twelve churches in Rome. The afternoon started with the reciting of Midday Prayer, followed by catechesis, delivered by twelve bishops, on the theme ‘Concrete Signs of Hope in the Diaconal Ministry’. On Saturday, through the day, all those attending had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
At the same time, at the Auditorium Conciliazone, over 1400 hundred participants gathered for the International Meeting, organised by the Dicastery for the Clergy, and were welcomed by its Prefect, His Eminence Cardinal Sik. There followed ‘Testimonies from the Continents’ giving a worldwide ‘snapshot’ of the Permanent Diaconate, with reports from Germany, the United States, Brazil, Rwanda, Lebanon and elsewhere.
A testimony was given by the International Network of Diaconate Spouses. Delegates then reflected on the future pathway of diaconal ministry, on how to be ‘Witnesses of Hope’ in a ‘Synodal and Missionary Church’. There was recognition of the need for an updating of the Directory for Deacons, which has guided their ministry for the past thirty years. This led to the announcement from the Dicastery for Clergy of the launch of an online ‘Consultation on the Ministry of the Diaconate Today’, to culminate in a Conference on the Permanent Diaconate to be held in the Vatican in 2026.
The day concluded with an evening Prayer Vigil in Paul VI Hall. On Sunday, at 9.00 am in St Peter’s Basilica, 2,500 deacons and families gathered for Mass, presided over, in the absence of Pope Francis, ill in hospital, by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect for New Evangelisation with the Dicastery for Evangelisation. During the Mass, twenty-three men from eight countries were ordained deacons. Prayers were said for Pope Francis, and Cardinal Fisichella delivered the homily prepared by Pope Francis, in which he reflected on three essential dimensions of the diaconate: forgiveness, service and communion.
The Pope wrote that ‘The deacon, invested in a ministry that leads him toward the world’s peripheries’, must see and teach that all are brothers and sisters, even those who cause suffering, in need of reconciliation, guidance and help. Pope Francis asks that deacons make selfless service ‘an essential dimension of your very being’; and encourages them to serve with humility, as the day’s Gospel from Luke said, to ‘do good and lend, expecting nothing in return’.