DEACON. (Gk. διάκονος, ‘servant’, ‘minister’; cf. διακονέω, ‘I serve’), the rank in the Christian ministry next below the presbyter (priest) and bishop. The institution of the diaconate is traditionally seen in the ordination of the ‘seven men of honest report’ (including Stephen and Philip), by the imposition of hands for the service of the poor and the distribution of alms (Acts 6:1–6), though the word διάκονος is not found here. Where it occurs in the New Testament in a technical sense (Phil. 1:1, 1 Tim. 3:8) it is in conjunction with ‘bishop’ (ἐπίσκοπος); deacons seem to be assistants to the bishops. In the Pastoral Epp. the deacons are a separate class of Church officers, charged chiefly with material duties.

In post-New Testament  times deacons continued to exercise similar functions. They are mentioned in Clement of Rome’s Ep. to the Corinthians, and in the Letters of Ignatius they appear for the first time in the third place, after bishops and presbyters. In the patristic age, when the office was normally held for life, their functions varied from place to place.

While the celebration of the Eucharist was reserved for the bishop or priest (along with the giving of absolution and pronouncement of the blessing), deacons commonly[:]

These liturgical functions were considerably curtailed in the West when, in 595, Gregory the Great transferred many of their musical functions to the cantors.

Their original office of collecting and distributing the alms gave them considerable importance and the archdeacon, the chief deacon of a given place, became the bishop’s principal administrative officer. In Rome their influence was esp. marked through their association with the Pope; here their number was long restricted to seven, a tradition which was perpetuated in the seven Cardinal Deacons. It gave rise, however, to abuses. Already at Nicaea (325; can. 18) their powers were curbed and the Council of Toledo in 633 and the Trullan Synod of 692 had to stress their hierarchical inferiority to the priesthood. Their influence diminished considerably during the Middle Ages, and in most Western episcopal Churches in modern times the diaconate has become merely a necessary stage in preparation for the priesthood. The Eastern Church, however, has always retained a permanent diaconate. Candidates for the diaconate cannot be ordained until they have reached the canonical age. The characteristic vestments of the deacon in the West are the dalmatic, and stole worn over the left shoulder; in the E. the orarion.

Because of the short time normally spent in the diaconate and hence the fewness of deacons, the liturgical functions proper to a deacon came to be frequently performed by a priest. The Second Vatican Council (1962–5) envisaged the possibility of the restoration of a permanent diaconate; following the procedure envisaged, bishops in some countries have ordained older married men as deacons, though young men ordained deacon are still bound to celibacy. The Council’s Constitution ‘On the Church’ (Lumen Gentium, 29) also defined the duties of a deacon, allowing him, when authorized, to baptize solemnly, administer Communion, assist at and bless weddings, give Viaticum to the dying, instruct and exhort the people, amd officiate at funerals.

At the Reformation the C of E retained the order of deacon, though, as it abolished the minor orders, this then became the lowest rank of ecclesiastical minister. In 1986 the order became open to women as well as men, as was already the case in certain other Provinces of the Anglican Communion. The functions of Anglican deacons are similar to those of their modern RC counterparts.

In many of the Protestant Churches the name is applied to the holders of an office in the ministry. In the Lutheran Church the word ‘deacon’ is applied to assistant parochial ministers, even though they are in full Lutheran orders. J. Calvin’s Institutes (4. 3. 9) recognized two classes of deacons, those who administered the alms and those who cared for the poor and sick. These remain the functions of deacons in Presbyterianism, where there is also provision for a deacons’ court, directly responsible to the presbytery and concerned with the proper distribution of Church goods. Where such a court does not exist, the deacons’ functions are performed by elders. In the Baptist and Congregational Churches more definitely spiritual functions are assigned to the deacons, who assist the pastor and also distribute the elements at the Communion. See also the following entry.

H. Krimm (ed.), Das Diakonische Amt der Kirche (Stuttgart, 1953; 2nd edn., 1965); id. (ed.), Quellen zur Geschichte der Diakonie (2 vols., ibid. [1960–64]); J. Colson, La Fonction diaconale aux origines de l’Église (Textes et Études Théologiques, 1960). K. Rahner, SJ, and H. Vorgrimler (eds.), Diaconia in Christo: Über die Erneuerung des Diakonates (Quaestiones Disputatae, 15–16; 1962), with bibl. P. Winninger and Y. [M.-J.] Congar, (eds.), Le Diacre dans l’Église et le Monde d’Aujourd’hui (Unam Sanctam, 59; 1966). J. M. Barnett, The Diaconate: A Full and Equal Order (New York, 1981; rev. edn., Valley Forge, Pa., 1995). J. N. Collins, Diakonia: Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources (New York, 1990). R. Turre, Grundlegung und Gestalt der Diakonie (Neukirchen [1991]). Deacons in the Ministry of the Church: A Report to the House of Bishops of the General Synod of the Church of England (General Synod Paper 802; 1988). H. W. Beyer in TWNT 2 (1935; Eng. tr., 1963), pp. 88–93, s.v. διάκονος S. Cheetham in DCA 1 (1875), pp. 526–32, s.v.; J. Forget in DTC 4 (1911), cols. 703–31, s.v. ‘Diacres’; F. Claeys-Bouuaert in DDC 4 (1949), cols. 1198–206, s.v. ‘Diacre’; T. Klauser in RAC 3 (1957), cols. 888–909, s.v. ‘Diakon’.

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