Permanent Deacon

Photo of Marty Barrack

The highest and best vocation for a man who not called as a priest or religious is as a permanent deacon.

Deacons receive income from their outside employment or pensions. They serve in the parish church primarily by assisting during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and teaching the Catholic faith. But they also represent the Church at their workplace, in hospitals and nursing homes, in prisons, and with the homebound and homeless.

A deacon who is married at the time of his ordination continues in his marriage. But if his wife should pass into eternity after his ordination, he is not allowed to re-marry. Similarly, a deacon who is not married at the time of his ordination cannot marry.