Cardinal George ordained seven men as permanent deacons on May 18, at Holy Name Cathedral. Another deacon was ordained on May 10 and another nine men were ordained May 25. More than 98 percent of deacons are married with families and most are also engaged in outside occupations. They are clergy, along with priests and bishops. The ministries that deacons perform include the teaching mission of the church, caring for the poor, performing baptisms and marriages, conducting funeral liturgies, presiding at wake services and assisting the priest at Mass by proclaiming the Gospel, preaching, leading intercessions, preparing the altar and intoning the dismissal. The Archdiocese of Chicago has the largest diaconate in the entire Catholic Church with more than 600 deacons.
Parishes, deacon group rally to ship supplies to hurricane victims On the breezy afternoon of Oct. 13, a caravan of about a dozen cars pulled up to the garages at St. Mary Monastery in Lemont and volunteers piled out and dropped off boxes of diapers, packages of baby wipes and cases of water for the victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
Meet the Archdiocese of Chicago’s newest deacons Twelve permanent deacons and two transitional deacons were ordained May 11 at Holy Name Cathedral. Cardinal Cupich celebrated the ordination Mass.
Deacons’ wives support husbands, parishes in many ways In 2019, Pam Carlson sat alone in the front pew of St. Barbara Church in Brookfield to watch her oldest child, Steven, get married.