THE FORMATION OF PERMANENT DEACONS AT OSCOTT
The deacon and the needs of the diocese
Whilst the sacramental identity of the deacon and his functions within
the Church’s three-fold ministry may be clear, the lived-out reality and
pastoral meaning, relevance and purpose of diaconal ministry in our own
situation in England and Wales today is less clear. The Directory for the
Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in England and Wales notes
how the Church in England and Wales is still ‘clarifying the profile of
the permanent diaconate. The Church in England and Wales as a whole,
and within the dioceses, might ask, for instance:
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What are the needs of the diocese and how might the diaconate be relevant in meeting
those needs?
What is the present diocesan policy on the diaconate? How might deacons be used in
the diocese? Should deacons be ordained for service within a specific parish, or for a
deanery, or for a specific ministry and apostolate within the diocese, or for the diocese
as a whole?
Should deacons be appointed for fixed terms to particular ministries? What choice has
the individual deacon in this process? Could deacons take up alternative ministries
and apostolates depending upon circumstances?
How might the presence and ministry of deacons be of help to a diocese, given the
shortage of priests and what specific training would be required for this?
Which new or existing ministries within the Church and the diocese might be given to
deacons now or possibly in the future, (such as school chaplaincies, diocesan or
deanery administration, diaconal vocations discernment, spiritual direction, vicariates,
marriage preparation and ongoing support, hospitals, prisons, religious education,
human development, the diocesan curia? The DFPDEW speaks of the greater
presence of deacons as sacred ministers in secular domains and professions, as well as
in family, schools and the world of work, with younger candidates coming forward
too.
Which new fields of diaconal ministry could be opened up? Could deacons be used to
evangelise the various cultural sectors outlined in recent magisterial documents (such
as education, finance, the arts, management, prisons, psychology and counselling,
shopping centres, travel nodes.
Answers to these more general questions determine the overall relevance of the diaconal
ministry to meeting the needs of a diocese, the type of candidate selected for the diaconate
and the particular programme of formation to be followed.
The Oscott vision
The Oscott programme, under the patronage of the martyrs St. Stephen and St. Lawrence,
endeavours to base itself on, and develop in its students, a solid appropriation of the spiritualdoctrinal foundations of the diaconate. Oscott works closely with the bishops and diocesan
directors in order to develop a shared vision. The programme is not a scaled-down version of
the seminary course nor a topped-up catechetics course, but starts from the actual and
anticipated needs of diaconal ministry today. Oscott offers formation for new diaconal
ministries within the local Church with a keen sense of mission and a stress on working for
evangelisation and vocational discernment.
Oscott deacons will have a clear understanding of the relationship of the bishop and the
diocesan diaconate as outlined in the documents of the Magisterium. Part-time learning
is not spare-time learning: the programme of formation is demanding and requires a
firm commitment from the candidate.
Candidates are encouraged to become ever more convincing signs and instruments of Christ
the Servant, avoiding clericalism and false dichotomies between the doctrinal and the
pastoral.
 They will be collaborative ministers.
 They will be devout and thoroughly faithful to the Church and her teaching, and yet
flexible and open to new ideas, methods and approaches.
 They will learn to work ecumenically.
 They will be men of justice and social responsibility.
 We hope too that they will become inspired evangelists, able to engage confidently in
conversation with all people of good will, and yet also be men of critical reflection on
matters to do with contemporary culture.
 The Oscott deacon should be someone willing to keep himself up to date in both
theological and secular knowledge, a man of imagination and zeal, anxious to devise
new ways of evangelisation that capture peoples’ imaginations and enable the Gospel
to be proclaimed in all the contemporary cultural sectors.
Integrating the four strands: the development of a ‘diaconal heart’
The Oscott Diaconate Formation Programme aims at helping diaconal candidates acquire and
develop the gift from the Lord of a ‘diaconal heart’: a man configured to Christ the Servant,
who loves and serves his people with Christ’s love. To this end, Oscott endeavours to offer an
‘educational ecclesial community’ in which the four areas or strands of formation human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral - are bound together into the one, organic
journey of Christian and diaconal life (Pastores Dabo Vobis 42). Although different strands
may necessarily take on a greater significance at different moments, all four strands of
formation are to be strengthened throughout a deacon’s life.