Deacons and Vatican II: The Making of a Servant Church

The Second Vatican Council committed the Catholic Church to the service of the world when it defined the church to be missionary by nature and a sacrament pointing to and making Christ present to all. Such a vision of the church informed the restoration of the permanent diaconate within the ministerial life of the church--a vocation and participation in Holy Orders endowed precisely with the charism of service. Deacons are called and ordained to serve in the areas of sacrament, word, and ch...