"Go and Make Disciples of All Nations" Deacons and Evangelization Deacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D. Professor of Theology Santa Clara University Director of Faith Formation, Diaconate and Planning Diocese of Monterey
Introduction "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Mission is easy; the details get complicated, especially for deacons, still "emerging" after nearly 50 years.
All About Evangelization 1. Renewed Evangelization and Diaconate: Common Foundation 2. Joyful Witness 3. Varied Renewal of the Order of Deacons 4. Obedience, Respect, Flexibility and Adaptation
Three Essential Assumptions: Deacons only make 1. sense within broader context of servant Church – Analogy with "priestly people" and ministerial priesthood "Vision of the 2. Founders" After nearly 50 years, 3. Diaconate is still emerging from the shadows
"Emerging"? From what? To what? The experience of Diaconate in 2013 NOT the same as it was in 1967, which was NOT the same as it was in 67! Also, not the same in Germany as Australia as India as the USA. . .
Plus, not in a vacuum…
During the Conference. . . 1. What was "the vision of the founders" for evangelization and diaconate? 2. " Novus Mentis Habitus " 3. Current realities, concerns, untapped potential: compare with vision?
Renewed Evangelization and Diaconate: Common Foundation – Vatican II "Deacons are Apostles of the New Evangelization" (JPII)
Most Basic Question: WHY?
"Vatican II: That's when the Catholic Church. . . ." Executive Officer, USS Billfish (SSN 676): "I remember Vatican II: that's when the Catholic Church sold out to. . . .
1962-1965: What were YOU doing? What were you doing during the Council? – Were you even alive? – Were you ordained yet? What was your assignment? – When was the first time you heard about "the Council? What did you think?
Current Example: Papal Retirement and Conclave 2013 Novus mentis habitus (John XXIII, Paul VI, JPII) Consider the "backgrounding" that went on – What did they bring into the conclave? – What were their hopes, dreams, expectations? – On a massive scale, same happened before Vatican II
Last night, Pope Francis: "Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads,
Overnight, Pope Francis: that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, those who have quit or are indifferent. The ones who quit sometimes do it for reasons that, if properly understood and assessed, can lead to a return.
Overnight, Pope Francis: But that takes audacity and courage."
To understand the church today, and our role in it, must first understand the vision behind the overall renewal
Paul VI: Everything was evangelization Vatican II: "The great Catechism of our times" The role of Vatican II: "to make the Church of the twentieth century ever better fitted for proclaiming the Gospel" (EN , #2 )
Vatican II: Trajectories of Renewal What if you were heading into Vatican III?
What did THEY bring? Average age in 1962: 62 Cultures Experience Priorities Nearly 9,000 proposed agenda items!
A Little History: From 1900 - 1959
Just one horrific example…
1933 – 1945: Dachau becomes incubator of ecclesial reform
Only the beginning. . . .
Only the beginning. . . .
Priests at Dachau Total Priests Incarcerated at Dachau: 2720 Priests released: 314 Priests who died in camp: 1034 Priests transferred to other camps: 132 Priests who survived the war: 1240 (less than half)
Dachau and Ecclesial Renewal? Clergy & Religious of all faiths: "no special treatment" Der Priesterblock Incubator for renewal: "How must the Church change so that this does not happen again?"
Following the War. . . . Survivors begin to write and plan New theologies emerge to deal with a new understanding about God Things had to change. . . .
Following the War, example: diaconate? Otto Pies, Wilhelm Schamoni Hannes Kramer and the "Diaconate Circles" Karl Rahner International Catechetical Week, Assisi, 1956 Pius XII (1947, 1957)
JPII on WWII "World War II: An abyss of violence, destruction and death unlike anything previously known." (2004 World Day of Peace Message)
Vatican II: Response to WWII
What else going on October 1962? Barbara Streisand Ugandan signs her first independence from recording contract Britain James Meredith USSR tests nuke in enters U. of atmosphere Mississippi US tests nuke in Johnny Carson hosts atmosphere his first Tonight show But the big news story. . .
Cuban Missile Crisis Pope John helps JFK and Kruschev reach a resolution
John XXIII Reason for the Council: Evangelization "to assert again the teaching office of the Church. . . taking into account the errors, requirements and opportunities of our time. . . for all people throughout the world." (Opening Address, 11 October 1962)
"Good Pope John" Violence inflicted on others, the might of arms, and political domination, are of no help at all in finding a happy solution to the grave problems which afflict them. That being so, the Catholic Church. . . desires to show herself to be the loving mother of all, benign, patient, full of mercy and goodness toward the brethren who are separated from her.
"Tantum Aurora Est!" – John XXIII Blessed John XXIII challenged the Council Fathers and us to recognize that 'it is now just the dawn" of a new age for church and world.
The bishops speak to the world: "We wish to convey to all people and to all nations the message of salvation, love, and peace. . . ." (Message to the World, October 20, 1962)
From the beginning of Council A New Way ("habit") 70 draft documents, of thinking but all were rejected, (mentioned by many either in whole or in conciliar Fathers, as part. well as John XXIII, Bishops rejected the Paul VI, JPII, and older, curial "way of now, Francis) thinking" Inadequate to contemporary needs
Reform & Renewal Five critical areas: – Role of Bishops & their Relationship to the Pope (complements Vatican I) – Role of the Laity – Definition of Church Membership – Relationship of Catholic church to other Christian churches – Relationship of Church's mission to the life of the world
Role of Bishops – Complemented & completed work of Vatican I – Three basic questions: What is a Bishop? What is the unique role of the Bishop of Rome? How do they relate? – Bishop is called by God. The sacramental identity of the bishop! – Bishop is head of the local church, in communion with the Pope. [LG 26] – Bishop is a vicar of Christ [LG 27]
Prior to Vatican II: "Find the Bishop!"
Role of Bishops Renewal of the Diaconate is tied directly to this renewal of the Episcopate
Bishops-Evangelization-Diakonia 24. Bishops, as successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord, to whom was given all power in heaven and on earth, the mission to teach all nations and to preach the Gospel to every creature, so that all may attain to salvation by faith, baptism and the fulfillment of the commandments.
Bishops-Evangelization-Diakonia 24. To fulfill this mission, Christ the Lord promised the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and on Pentecost day sent the Spirit from heaven, by whose power they would be witnesses to Him before the nations and peoples and kings even to the ends of the earth. And that duty, which the Lord committed to the shepherds of His people, is a true service, which in sacred literature is significantly called "diakonia" or ministry.
Schema 13: Unique among all Documents "Schema 13" – only schema to emerge at the Council itself; Suenens, first session At the urging of the bishops themselves, not the curia Drafted in FRENCH Working groups around the world
Gaudium et spes 4. The Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which people ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other. We must therefore recognize and understand the world in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteristics. 40. She serves as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society as it is to be renewed in Christ and transformed into God's family.
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