Candidates get on-site training

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

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

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.

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