Every Man a Deacon

Book excerpt: With the restoration of the Permanent Diaconate of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the 1970s, the ministry has grown in dioceses across the United States and Canada. Nevertheless, many parishes, especially the small or rural, have yet to see a deacon ministering within their territories. Does the ministry of deacon make him a "mini-priest"? Or is he a lay minister of special distinction? Deacon Rex addresses these last two questions while building understanding of the ministry of deacon in such a way that, with (1) the approval of his pastor and (2), if married, his wife, each man can decide to make the first step, contacting the deacon formation director in his diocese.