U.S. diaconate directory gets Vatican approval

Published: 2004-11-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops learned Nov. 16 that the Vatican has given its approval to the "National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States" that the bishops approved in 2003. Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced the Vatican action on the second day of the USCCB fall meeting in Washington. He said the Vatican decree was signed by the heads of the Congregation for Clergy and the Congregation for Catholic Education. Approval was granted "ad experimentum" (on a trial basis) for five years, he said. He said the U.S. decree implementing the directory will be issued Dec. 26, with Aug. 10, 2005, as the date it takes effect. The new diaconate directory will establish, for the first time, comprehensive national norms for preparing for and living the permanent diaconate. It will replace national guidelines, in effect since 1984, that did not have the force of norms.

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