Candidates get on-site training

By KATE BLAIN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Thanks to a new program, future deacons in the Albany Diocese will be able to "test the waters" of parish work before their ordination.

Rev. Joseph Cotugno, the new director of formation for the diaconate program in the diocesan Office of Initial and Ongoing Formation, is helping to develop the program, which will allow candidates for the diaconate to have a nine-month "pastoral experience," working in a parish much like seminarians do to prepare for their ordination.

Father Cotugno said the program will not only allow diocesan officials to evaluate whether candidates have the ability to become deacons, but also give the future deacons a chance to experience what their work will be like if they complete the diaconate program.

Extensive effort

Set to start in January, the program will place this year's class of about half a dozen candidates in parishes other than their home parishes, under the supervision of ordained deacons who already work there.

Candidates will be required to give four hours of service per week to a parish and to a diocesan service organization, many through Catholic Charities. The candidates will also gather as a group on a monthly basis to discuss their experiences.

"It's part of the discernment process: Do they want to be deacons?" Father Cotugno explained. "They can see how it impinges upon family life and ask, `Am I really being called to be a deacon?'"

New calendar

Deacon candidates had been required to complete the diocesan Formation for Ministry program and then spend two years in a program of formation for the diaconate, but they weren't sent out to work in parishes until after their ordination.

From now on, the candidates will spend a year in formation for the diaconate, complete their pastoral experience, then return for another year of formation before they are ordained.

The idea was sparked by suggestions from the diocesan Formation Advisory Board, the fact that the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) is developing guidelines for diaconate programs in the U.S., and directives from the Vatican that diaconate formation become more like formation for the priesthood.

(12-03-98) [[In-content Ad]]