WCR Letters to the Editor

Blessings of the diaconate

I would like to correct some false impressions: a lay minister can cover many duties but he does not have the same powers as a permanent deacon.

To name a few, the permanent deacon has the right to solemnize marriages and baptisms; he also has the authority when assisting at the Eucharist to preach the homily for the celebrant and at the end of the Canon he has the privilege of elevating the chalice.

In various dioceses, when required, the bishop may ask him to undertake other ministerial and pastoral duties.

There appears to be some concern that a male permanent deacon will cause women to be side-lined. In fact the opposite is true. The majority of permanent deacons are married and since the restoration of the permanent diaconate since Vatican II it has become apparent that the deacon functions with his wife as a diaconal team.

During my 15 years of ministry my wife, Joan, has been my greatest support. Joan has, when necessary, stepped in with readings at the liturgy; prepared the altar in isolated missions; led the singing; has assisted me and helped counsel the bereaved family at funerals; at all times acted as my secretary while I have been at work.

I could continue the list indefinitely with ministries that only a woman can do adequately.

Since being ordained I have covered many activities which I never thought about before becoming a deacon. I have preached and served in well over 20 parishes and missions, as well as being resident pastor of a First Nations mission for seven years.

Like many priests I have lost count of the number of baptisms, marriages and funerals at which I have officiated; I have found myself counselling prospective suicidees, mothers contemplating abortion and other mothers mourning the loss of babies before and after birth.

I have visited prisoners and celebrated the liturgy in prison camps, faced rioters and those abusing the Catholic Church. These are only a few of the many duties that have fallen upon me and other deacons throughout the world.

A permanent deacon is one of the "diaconale," as distinct from the "presbyterium." He is not and never can replace the priest.

Deacons have been a regular part of the Church for 1,500 years before the Council of Trent. Many of them have been a great influence, for example, St. Francis of Assisi.

I have been honoured to have been ordained as a permanent deacon by Bishop Raymond Roy, the former bishop of the Diocese of Saint Paul. I pray that our archbishops and bishops here in Western Canada will soon agree to establish the permanent diaconate as a regular part of our Church life.

Morgan Newington
Permanent Deacon
Athabasca

A modest proposal for St. Joachim's Parish

St. Joachim's makes the spirit of celebration visible. Approaching the church and entering it gladdens the heart.

Its aesthetic integrity is a source of joy. St. Joachim's beauty is far superior to our unfortunately somber basilica.

It is a good thing that St. Joachim's was declared an historic monument in 1978 or else it might be toppled into oblivion by ToPs.

I have a modest suggestion that might remedy insufficient attendance.

I was intrigued to read that in its early years, St. Joachim's served both francophone and anglophone communities. Why not return to your roots, St. Joachim's, and celebrate one Mass in English?

I am confident that you would attract many new parishioners. What could be more Canadian and Catholic than a bilingual parish?

Once upon a time I was a parishioner at St. Anne's in Jasper Place. It was bilingual and it worked very well. It was a rich and memorable experience.

May the people of St. Joachim's enjoy a glorious centennial celebration and abundant blessings of various kinds.

John Zyp
Edmonton

On viewing people as mechanisms

Day, in both of his letters, asserts that the homosexual condition is not a matter of choice for the individual involved. He seems to believe that nos. 2357 and 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church supports this position, and furthermore that it is a "scientific fact."

All this is politically correct but what has PC got to do with the truth? It is not the teaching of the Church nor is it a scientific fact.

In an article ("Some problems in the New Catholic Catechism"), in the Social Justice Review of May-June 1997, John Shea, MD, shares his insight that, "It is of interest to note that the Catechism of the Catholic Church makes no mention of the notion that people 'do not choose their . . . condition' when it refers to fornication, prostitution, rape, theft, sins of anger and sins of hatred.

"Nowhere is the influence of sociopathic or psychopathic condition referred to as having an influence on the committing of these sins."

In our culture of death, it is one of those pseudo-facts put out by the regime who control us through our passions, and "whose pernicious casuistry justifies adultery, homosexuality, incest, abortion, sterilization, infanticide and eventually pedophilia" (Eugene Narrett, Culture Wars, Sept. 1999).

As Catholics, let us not be seen to be among those who demean homosexual persons by denying them the God-given fundamental freedom we are all gifted with.

As for science, psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Satinover has noted, (First Things, Feb. 1994) "Unwittingly, and unacknowledged, the scientific study of man thus aims ultimately at his abolition as man-as-free agent and his reconstruction as mechanism."

We are now well down that road.

Robert Benn
Edmonton

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