In Search for Identity

Since its re-establishment by the Second Vatican Council, the diaconate has been seeking its place within a diaconal Church; some even speak about the search for the identity of this ministry: is the deacon an ambassador of the poor, is he the specialist for the unspecific? Is he a cross-border worker or a go-between or is he something like a “girl Friday”? In a recent article on the identity of the deacon, he is described as a “grease monkey”; in the Netherlands he is the one who runs to and fro between the central and the machine room doing the small repairs needed in order for the machine to keep working properly.  How would you describe the deacon?

IDC Private Audience 2016

Since the re-establishment of the diaconate in the year 1965, the International Diaconate Centre (IDC) has been supporting this search for identity through study conferences, through networking of deacons from the whole world, through the Diaconia Christi magazine, as well as through a foundation and a prize which is awarded on a regular basis. More than 1,200 members from 55 countries support the IDC, approximately 1,000 subscribers in 30 countries read the magazine.

For the Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, Beniamino Cardinal Stella, the identity of the deacon continues to be a “open worksite”, a work in progress. The IDC will tackle this topic and is organizing an International Symposium on the Theology of the Diaconate which will be held in Stuttgart, Germany between the 18^th and the 21^st of March, 2020.  More than 100 guests from all over the world are expected and they will have the opportunity to discuss with renowned theologians.  

You can find more about the schedule here: http://diaconia-idc.org/blog/studienkonferenz/international-symposium-on-theology-of-the-diaconate.html

You can find more information about the IDC here: http://diaconia-idc.org/#1