{"id":261477,"date":"2017-12-13T06:12:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T11:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/?post_type=post&p=261477"},"modified":"2017-12-13T06:12:08","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T11:12:08","slug":"from-the-bbc-permanent-deacons-a-solution-to-the-priest-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2017\/12\/from-the-bbc-permanent-deacons-a-solution-to-the-priest-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"From the BBC: ‘Permanent deacons – a solution to the priest shortage?’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Most of us know the answer to the question in the headline is \u201cNo.\u201d But permanent deacons are still a relatively new phenomenon in Ireland, which is evidently what prompted this piece from the BBC:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

While the Catholic Church in Ireland tries to address a shortage of priests there has been a concerted move to re-introduce an ancient ministry \u2013 that of permanent deacons.<\/p>\n

One hundred men, many of them married, have been ordained to serve the community and assist priests in parishes across Ireland.<\/p>\n

The Vatican has set up a commission to consider women serving in that role and the history of women deacons in the Church, signalling an openness to ending the practice of all-male clergy.<\/p>\n

The Reverend Malachy McElmeel was ordained as a permanent deacon three years ago.<\/p>\n

He is married and has nine children.<\/p>\n

As a permanent deacon he can perform baptisms, marriages and funerals, in the same way a priest, but cannot celebrate the Eucharist or hear confession.<\/p>\n

Speaking to BBC News NI Reverend McElmeel said being a priest was not for him, but felt a calling to ministry as a permanent deacon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a married man, I have a lovely family, and being a priest was never on my scale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Armagh man also has a business involved in adapting cars for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n

He preaches sermons, assists the priests at Mass, and is involved in pastoral work in the parish of the Holy Family in Coalisland, County Tyrone.<\/p>\n

Father Paul Byrne says the ministry of permanent deacons is not a response to the shortage of priests.<\/p>\n

He says the role is independent of the work of the priest, but acknowledged that by carrying out functions at baptisms and weddings, the permanent deacon has \u201cfreed-up\u201d his time and he can focus on taking a more active role in other areas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.<\/strong><\/a> The piece is expected to air today. I\u2019ll see if I can post it after.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of us know the answer to the question in the headline is \u201cNo.\u201d But permanent deacons are still a relatively new phenomenon in Ireland, which is evidently what prompted this piece from the BBC: While the Catholic Church in Ireland tries to address a shortage of priests there has been a concerted move to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":261481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11252],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-mind"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the BBC: 'Permanent deacons - a solution to the priest shortage?'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Most of us know the answer to the question in the headline is "No." But permanent deacons are still a relatively new phenomenon in Ireland, which is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2017\/12\/from-the-bbc-permanent-deacons-a-solution-to-the-priest-shortage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From the BBC: 'Permanent deacons - 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