By Gretchen Keiser

The growing permanent diaconate in the archdiocese of Atlanta will be scrutinized for three and a half days next week by a national evaluation team invited by Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ.

Between Friday, Feb. 23, and Monday, Feb. 26, a team of five people, chaired by Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Dale Melczek, will meet with deacons and their wives, pastors and lay leaders working with deacons, members of the Council of Priests, diaconate candidates and their instructors to review the archdiocesan program.

A preliminary report will be given to the archbishop before the team leaves, with a final report due to come from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ permanent diaconate committee approximately May 1, said Deacon Richard Narey of Atlanta.

The team, in addition to Bishop Melczek, will include John Byrne, a deacon who is director of permanent diaconate formation for the archdiocese of Spokane, Wash.; Father Robert O’Grady, vicar for permanent deacons in the archdiocese of Hartford, Conn.; and Deacon Ray Ortega and his wife, Rosemary, from the archdiocese of Miami.

The archbishop, who worked with the permanent diaconate for 20 years in Washington, D.C., asked for the evaluation last year, saying it would bring to Atlanta “people with wide experience” to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the archdiocesan program.

An enthusiastic supporter of the ministry that was restored by the Second Vatican Council following centuries of disuse, the archbishop said that his backing of the permanent diaconate was not a denial of problems that others may encounter with the ministry.

“My enthusiasm may be interpreted as something that cannot be challenged,” he said in an interview. “This is still a relatively new ministry in the Church. The purpose of the evaluation is not to whitewash, but to tie up the loose ends, discover and correct the mistakes.”

“Today we have more permanent deacons (in the archdiocese) than diocesan priests. That is a reality,” the archbishop observed.

“My concern is to find out what the Holy Spirit is saying. What does that mean to the Church of Atlanta as we look toward the third millennium?”

Narey, who is part-time director of the permanent diaconate and lay ministry for the archdiocese of Atlanta, said the host group has already unearthed concerns to be shared with the evaluation team and that he fully expects to receive recommendations for change in the way the program is now carried out. The concern is to be in line with guidelines that have been developed by the NCCB’s permanent diaconate committee, he said.

At his time, there are 98 permanent deacons in the archdiocese, some of whom were formed and ordained in other dioceses before moving to Georgia. Approximately 30 candidates are in preparation to be ordained either in 1990 or 1991, Narey said.

The schedule for the evaluation team begins Feb. 23 with a meeting between Archbishop Marino and Bishop Melczek. That evening the team will meet with the eight-member Atlanta diaconate board composed of Deacons Sam Anzalone, Walt Bedard, Al Gallagher, Arturo Jimenez, Al Mitchell, Narey and Deacon Ray Shaw and his wife, Sue.

On Feb. 24, the team will visit lay ministry and diaconate formation classes at the Cathedral of Christ the King, meet with members of the Council of Priests and have lunch with those teaching the deacons and lay ministers. That afternoon they will meet with deacon candidates and their wives and with the chairpersons of parish councils in parishes served by deacons. Every parish with deacons was invited to send its chairperson, Narey said. A discussion is also scheduled with representatives of the Aquinas Center of Theology on possible use of its faculty for the formation program.

On Sunday, individual team members will visit four parishes and hear deacons preach and lunch with the pastor and parish leaders. Bishop Melczek will celebrate the 10:30 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral. Father O’Grady will celebrate the 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Cross parish in Atlanta. Deacon John Byrne will be at St. Anthony’s Church in southwest Atlanta and Deacon and Mrs. Ortega will be at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish with the Hispanic community. The visits are intended to give the team “a flavor of how the diaconate is working” in these parishes, which include parishes serving the black and Hispanic communities, Narey said.

Sunday afternoon they will meet with deacons and their wives and again with the diaconate board. On Feb. 26, there will be final meetings between the archbishop and Bishop Melczek and between the team and the diaconate board. In addition to the meetings the team gathers alone nightly to clarify its observations, Narey said.

A preliminary report will be given Feb. 26, Narey said. Team members will provide Bishop Melczek their individual reports in two weeks and he will send a final team report to the NCCB in Washington, D.C. “We receive a report back from the bishop’ committee about May 1,” Narey said.