Screening helps select ministers

Every year, for instance, 30 to 40 percent of those who apply to become permanent deacons for the Albany Diocese aren't accepted.

How are candidates for religious life screened today? What makes someone a good fit? Using the diaconate as an example, The Evangelist got some answers from Rev. Joseph Cotugno, who heads the Diocese's program of formation for the diaconate.

Starting gate

When prospective deacons begin to be screened, FMP leaders give Father Cotugno and his peers their impressions of each candidate.

The future deacons (and their wives, if they're married) also attend an informational night on becoming a deacon. Father Cotugno noted that a deacon's wife must approve of his choice, since it's a life-long commitment on both their parts.

"One guy came to the meeting and his wife got up in the middle and said, `If you do this, I'll divorce you!'" he said, laughing. Applying

Candidates fill out a lengthy written application that includes questions about past psychological treatment, addictions, family life, jobs, any legal action they're involved in and their "vocational histories" -- including whether they've applied to a religious community or ministry before.

The candidates also write autobiographical essays, essays on their gifts, and essays on their spiritual lives and interest in the diaconate. Recommendations from employers and pastors, and a doctor's evaluation are required.

Two members of the formation office's diaconate acceptance board then interview each candidate and his wife to see if they have the appropriate gifts for the diaconate. Simply volunteering in a parish isn't enough, said Father Cotugno; people may be good at behind-the-scenes parish work, but not have the gifts for public ministry.

Pluses

* Their life as a Christian is diaconal already. They're active in the Church; they interact well with people; the Church is active in their lives.

* They're self-actualized: "They don't have to wait for the pastor to say, `Go here; do this' -- they do it," Father Cotugno explained.

* They're flexible, open and empathetic -- they can listen and respond to others.

* They know their gifts and can share them.

* They have a strong sense of faith.

* They can form community.

* They can serve the Church and its people without looking for power.

Negatives

Men might be inappropriate for the diaconate for many reasons, including rigidity or the inability to listen to others; power-seeking; dysfunctional marriages; or inability to maintain strong faith commitments in their marriages.

Age is another factor; deacons must be at least 35 and no older than 62.

Men only

But some deacons' wives take courses at St. Bernard's Institute in Albany, the Diocese's graduate school for theology -- and many are just as talented at ministry and delivering homilies as their husbands.

Watching their husbands' ordination into the "fraternity of deacons" can be hard for those who want to use their own gifts in such a ministry, the priest said.

"Some women say, `It's wonderful, but I don't want to be a deacon,'" he said. "Other women are sitting there chafing at the bit."

Next steps

All of the information on a candidate is gathered, and the board meets with Bishop Howard J. Hubbard to choose candidates. The Bishop gets the final vote on who's accepted.

"It's a tough job," Father Cotugno remarked. "Sometimes, we have to say no, and we sit around and say, `Were we right or were we wrong?'"

Formation

An "internship year" allows the formation office to see how the future deacons are relating interpersonally with Catholics in parishes and other ministries. In the end, the candidates are ordained as deacons for the Albany Diocese and assigned to a parish, hospital or other ministry.

Deacons, Father Cotugno concluded, are members of one of the Church's most significant ministries because they publicly represent the Church to the people of God.

(For more information on the diaconate, call the formation office at 453-6670.)

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