Survey in the United States: The Perpetual Deacon is an Important and Necessary Service of the Hungarian Post

The report for the period 2020-2021 provides a complete picture of the status of permanent deacons in the United States, including the number of ordination in the past year, the percentage of people performing various church services, and other demographic information. Bishop James Francis Chicchio, Chairman of the Priesthood Commission, asserts in his list that “perpetual deacons give an encouraging testimony of the love and mercy of Christ in a world still grappling with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Perpetual deacons bring the light and presence of Jesus into many different areas of society, and preach the gospel in their work, in the family, among the poor, and more broadly in their communities,” adds the chief pastor, encouraging bishops and lay faithful to say “a prayer of thanks for such good service in the states United”.

To prepare the study, the research center contacted the 187 parishes and parishes in the country that have a permanent Diakonie office. A total of 145 of them answered the survey, which equates to 77 percent of those surveyed.

According to the data, the diocese with the most permanent deacons are 852 in Chicago, 426 in Los Angeles, and 367 in Galveston-Houston.

The 144 dioceses designated by the Latin ordination have a total of 15,873 permanent deacons, while the only diocese (the Eastern ordained diocese) surveyed has eleven permanent deacons. By extrapolating this data and, on average, applying it to parishes and parishes that did not respond to the survey, the research center estimates that “there are 19,008 permanent deacons in the United States today.”

In 2020, in the dioceses that responded to the survey, 587 new permanent deacons were ordained, while 410 withdrew from active duty and 378 died. 93 percent of activists are married, 4 percent are widowed, and 2 percent are unmarried. As for ages, 95 percent of active permanent deacons are at least 50 years old, about 21 percent are exactly 50 years old, 40 percent are 60 years old, and 35 percent are 70 years old, or over 70 years old. Seven of the ten permanent deacons are white and of non-Hispanic origin; one in five is Hispanic (Latin); 4 percent are Asian and 3 percent are African American.

Finally, the survey also reported that 26 percent of permanent deacons receiving financial benefits for their service work in parishes as religious teachers or youth group leaders, 16 percent engaged in administrative work, and 8 percent in pastoral activities in one or more parishes.

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As of June 1, 2021, there were 36 archbishops, 144 provinces, 67 auxiliary bishops, and eight apostolic administrators or dioceses in 194 dioceses and dioceses in the United States. There are currently sixteen American Cardinals. The number of priests and monks in 2018, reached 37,302, including 11,596 monastic priests and 25,706 diocesan priests.

Source: Vatican Radio

Photo: Vatican News

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