NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEACONS AUGUST 2016 Rev Professor Klaus Kießling, left, and Dr Stefan Sander, pictured outside St Peter s Basilica, Rome. Both will take part in the National Association of Deacons conference in Hobart next year. He s looking forward to meeting us Deacon Nick Kerr talks to the president of the IDC REV Professor Klaus Kießling is looking forward to coming to Australia and learning more about Australian deacons. Klaus is president of the International Diaconate Centre (IDC). He and IDC manager, Dr Stefan Sander, will be guests at the NAD conference in Hobart next March. As you know the Second Vatican Council re-established the permanent diaconate, Klaus said, but it left it up to the bishops conferences to decide whether or not to establish the permanent diaconate in different regions. That s why the length of the history of the diaconate varies in different parts of the world. Not only the history of the diaconate varies, but traditions vary as well. That s one reason why I think it will be very interesting to come to Australia. In former times all we knew about Australia was the research of John Collins. He is an expert from a biblical point of view, of course, and developed a tradition of the diaconate which had not been very familiar in our German speaking regions. I am grateful that we have got in touch with one another in the meanwhile. That s why I think the IDC is so terribly important: Traditions vary and we can build bridges between the different traditions and
2 Australian deacons pictured in Rome are, from left, Mark Kelly, Tony Aspinall, Paul Simmons (at back), Mervyn Francis, Jim Curtain and Peter McCulloch. (See Jubilee for Deacons page 5). learn from each other, learn within the universal church in a practical way, about ministry and formation, and about spirituality. Klaus has wide experience. He visits deacons in most parts of the world even if he hasn t got to Australia yet. I asked if deacons ministries vary greatly in different places. The question is the special issues deacons deal with and how deacons can find an independent way of practising what they are called to together with the priests but also independent in a way, he said. I say independent because deacons do not replace priests. Priests and deacons each have unique ministries. In the German tradition we have the idea of connecting the ministry with the work of Caritas. This has been the case from the very beginning. We have biblical reasons for that. But this is different from what, for example, John Collins thinks about the diaconate. Some people say there s too much emphasis on the Caritas side of things and not enough on general ministry. But if you take away the Caritas side where s the deacon? I asked Klaus, as he travels around the world, does he see much difference in the way diaconal ministry is expressed? Is there much variety? Yes, he said. Some deacons concentrate on liturgy quite a lot, some on social service. But there are special profiles of what a deacon s ministry should look like. Some regions seem to be looking for a profile just at the moment. They are on the way to re-establishing the diaconate in their region but they have not yet decided what profile deacons should have in the future. The IDC could help and support the development of the ministry in those regions. I asked Klaus about the conferences the IDC arranges for deacons from different parts of the world on specific topics. Deacons also exchange ideas and experiences at these meetings. Personally I think it s inspiring to learn about other ideas and experiences. If there were no IDC I would know only about our German traditions and would think ours was the only way we can go on as deacons. We spoke a little about the history of the IDC. It had its beginnings in a diaconal movement set up in Germany not long after World War II, led by Hannes Kramer and Karl Rahner. Diaconate Circles were set up, then an International Diaconate Circle, which held a study conference in Rome during the final session of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Paul VI received the delegates at a papal audience. More than half of them were bishops or cardinals. The IDC was set up at the conference. Later the then Bishop Walter Kasper integrated the IDC into the structures of his diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart. That s why the IDC was established in Germany, Klaus said. The international option was there from the beginning. But we had to be situated somewhere and, because Hannes
3 Kramer and Karl Rahner played such an important role, it was situated in Germany. Today we try to internationalise more and more. As you know, we have our study conferences, every four years since 1965. There are some social projects, we contribute to research on different levels and there is the Diaconia Prize. The IDC leadership works closely with the Congregation for the Clergy. Pope Francis was elected Pope in 2013 and appointed Cardinal Beniamino Stella Prefect of the Congregation. The IDC had elections for its board the same year. We went to Rome with our new board and had a meeting with Cardinal Stella, Klaus said. The tradition of exchange had been established with his predecessors long before this meeting, of course, but we could cultivate and intensify our connection with the Congregation of the Clergy so much that Cardinal Stella came to celebrate the opening Mass with us at our jubilee conference in October last year, although he was a Synod Father. No other bishop who was taking part in the Synod of Bishops in these weeks felt free to come to our meeting. But Prefect Stella came to us to celebrate Mass with us and showed that the connection between us is stable. From our point of view, this connection is very important. The IDC values its ecumenical contacts, especially with its sister Protestant organisation, the Diakonia World Federation. Its representative, Deaconess Terttu Pohjolainen, of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland, is an IDC delegate. She was one of the IDC group to meet Pope Francis. Here she is speaking to Klaus Kießling before the papal audience.
4 Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, is protector of the IDC. He is pictured here speaking at a meal after the papal audience. Pro Diaconia Prize The Pro Diaconia Prize was awarded for the first time during the IDC s 50th jubilee study conference in Rome last year. The aim of the prize is to promote diaconal awareness and to recognise exceptional diaconal initiatives. The inaugural Pro Diaconia Prize was awarded to Deacon László Gorove, 58, and his wife Krisztina, 55, from Budapest, Hungary. László is a physician and Krisztina is a high school teacher. They have been married for 34 years, have five grown children and six grandchildren. About 80 per cent of marriages in Hungary end in divorce. László and Krisztina began a program of marriage preparation and follow up. The divorce rate among the couples they and their colleague couples prepare is only five per cent. Their project has grown to include weekend courses in Germany, Austria, Romania, Serbia, Ireland, Malta and Finland and 54 couples now lead weekend preparation programmes. Equal second prizes went to: Deacon Germán Agustí from Gavá, Barcelona, in Spain, who is working to improve the living conditions of poor people, especially Roma people. Deacon Fulgencio Palacio Bonachea from the Archdiocese of Camagüey, Cuba, who tries to ensure financial help and food for weekly catechesis meetings of extremely poor and needy people, many of them in rural areas. The deacons of Mumbai Archdiocese, India, who provide health care in the Mumbai slums, often by teaching traditional medicines to the poorest of the poor, using plants and herbs growing nearby. Klaus Kießling, born in 1962, married and father of two sons, permanent deacon of the German diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Professor of Religious Pedagogics, Catechetics
5 and Didactics as well as Director of the Institute of Pastoral Psychology and Spirituality at the Jesuit Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology, Frankfurt / Germany, Vice-President of the IDC since 2005, President since 2009. Stefan Sander, who has a doctorate in theology, has been manager of the IDC since 2012. He has been in charge of the formation of permanent deacons in the Diocese of Osnabrück, in the northern part of Germany, since 2000; is trainer for group dynamics; is ethics advisor in the healthcare sector; is married and father of two sons (Vincent, 16; Elias, 9) and daughter Charlotte, 12. He has published several publications on the theology of diaconate. Jubilee for Deacons: Australians in Rome Jim Curtain MORE than 2,000 deacons and many spouses from around the world gathered in Rome during May to celebrate together the Jubilee for Deacons (27 to 29 May) during this Year of Mercy. Among them were 11 from Australia Peter and Lyndall McCulloch, Anthony and Shylaja Gooley, Mark and Hilary Kelly, Tony Aspinall, Paul Simmonds, Mervyn Francis, Leon Decsenza, and me. The program included talks, catechises, a group pilgrimage through the Holy Door of St. Peter s Basilica, individual pilgrimages, and Mass with Pope Francis. The first meeting was on the evening of Friday 27 May. There were two English language centres, and I was allocated to the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva to hear three presentations on The Deacon: Image of Mercy for the promotion of the New Evangelisation. The presentations were given by Deacons James Keating, Greg Kanda, and our own Anthony Gooley. All were worthwhile, but I think it is fair to say that Anthony s presentation provoked the most interest. I look forward to its eventual publication! The second day of the celebration was notable for the pilgrimage to the Holy Door at St Peter s Basilica. For me, this was a very powerful experience. I had been concerned that the noise, heat and crowds would make it difficult to pray not so! The opportunity to be with a group of deacons and spouses, to pray together, and to experience the beauty of St Peter s was profoundly moving. For the rest of the day I was able to visit some of the Roman churches dedicated to St Lawrence, and take the chance to reflect on the diaconal vocation. That evening there was a catechesis from Cardinal Peter Turcson where he particularly spoke of the importance of our families. The third day of the Jubilee featured our Mass with Pope Francis. More than 2000 deacons shared in the celebration. Pope Francis spoke movingly of our vocation, reminding us of the need to be available, humble, and to be ready to deal with the unexpected. After the Mass most of the Australians went to a nearby restaurant for lunch, where we shared our stories and experiences, enjoyed each other s company, and serenaded our fellow diners with Advance Australia Fair and Waltzing Matilda. We think most of our fellow diners were impressed; at least they applauded us, and didn t throw anything! There were many highlights during the jubilee, but for me, three features stood out: THE sight of so many deacons together affirmed my personal vocation, and reminded me that we are a distinct order of the church, as are laity, priests and bishops. THE sense of prayer - even walking the busy and noisy streets of Rome there was a wonderful sense of recollection and calm. THE opportunity to be at the Mass with Pope Francis, a man who radiates the joy of the Gospel.
6 There were three deacons from the southern hemisphere in the group meeting Pope Francis, from left, Deacon Greg Garnie, from South Africa, Deacon Nick Kerr, from Adelaide, and Deacon Charles Dube, from Zimbabwe. A call to service JESUS calls all his disciples to a life of love, Pope Francis told a group of deacons in Rome on 4 June. But he calls deacons to answer this call in a special way in a life of service to others. Thirty five of us met Pope Francis. He had hoped to be able to give an audience to a far larger group of deacons and their wives last October. About six hundred of us had been in Rome for a study conference to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the International Diaconate Centre (IDC). We had planned the conference to be the week after the meeting of the Synod of Bishops. Then the Synod extended its meeting by a week and Pope Francis sent a message saying he couldn t get away from the Synod meetings, but that he would meet some of us when he could. That was how this month s meeting came about. Most of the 35 invited to the Vatican were deacons, but there were other leaders in the diaconal movement including two bishops and some priests who are leaders in the formation of deacons. Pope Francis reminded us that our visit was taking place in the Year of Mercy. That provided a spiritual context. It emphasised the importance of mercy in our lives and in our ministry. He also reminded us of Jesus new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. Jesus Himself is this newness, he said. He gave us an example so that, as He did, we should also do. That commandment of love is the last will of Jesus, given to the disciples in the upper room after the washing of the disciples feet. Shortly afterwards he underlines: This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
7 By loving one another, the disciples continue the mission for which the Son of God came into the world. This commandment involves service to our brothers and sisters. The Apostles chose several deacons, servants, to provide for the concrete care of people and their needs. Deacons, he said, manifest the commandment of Jesus in a particular way: imitating God in the service of others; imitating God who is love and desires to serve us. The manner of God s acting that is, His acting with patience, goodness, compassion, and willingness to make us better persons these must also characterize all ministers: Bishops as successors of the Apostles, priests their collaborators and deacons in the concrete serving at table. It is especially deacons who are the face of the Church in the daily life of a community, which lives and journeys in the midst of the people and in which the greatest is not the one who commands, but the one who serves. Deacon Nick Kerr The text of the Pope s speech at the audience is on the NAD website at http://www.ausdeacons.org.au/downloads/content/4152.pdf. The text of the Pope s homily at the Mass for the Jubilee for Deacons on 29 May is at http://www.ausdeacons.org.au/content.php/news/popes-homily-at-the-jubilee-for-deacons_4147 Anthony Gooley s address in Rome Christian Farrington recently sent out this release on behalf of the Broken Bay Institute. The release was headed Aussie deacon delivers key speech in Rome addressing Pope s vision for evangelisation. OVER 2,000 deacons from around the world gathered in Rome this May for the first international conference of deacons sponsored by the Holy See. Rev Dr Anthony Gooley, who is a lecturer in theology at BBI, and Archbishop Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, conceived the idea after meeting in Sydney in 2012. I spoke with Archbishop Fisichella and suggested deacons have a key role to play in the new evangelisation for the Church and that this idea needed to be explored more deeply, Rev Dr Gooley said. Archbishop Fisichella agreed and the Year of Mercy seemed to present the opportunity. The Jubilee for Deacons represented the largest group of deacons ever to assemble in Rome. Speaking on The Deacon as an image of mercy for the new evangelisation in pastoral ministry, Rev Dr Gooley presented to 500 deacons and their wives at the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Beginning his paper with Acts 6:1-8, which is frequently taken as the foundation text for the ministry of deacons, Rev Dr Gooley was able to demonstrate that choosing the first seven deacons was a paradigm of evangelisation. He also noted that the text had been seriously distorted in modern interpretation. The Church originally chose seven Greek speaking men to minister the word of God to Greek speaking communities in which they evangelised, preached, catechised and baptised. The suggestion that the primary ministry of deacons is one of service to the poor or of charity is based on a case of mistaken identity and cannot be justified from Scripture or Tradition, Rev Dr Gooley said.
8 Rev Dr Anthony Gooley speaking in the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome A more accurate understanding of the scriptural and theological foundations of diaconate will open the scope of the ministry of deacons and allow it to flourish in the life of local churches for new evangelisation. The scope of the ministry is only limited by the imaginations of those responsible for pastoral planning in dioceses, Rev Dr Gooley said. After the Jubilee Mass on Sunday morning, Rev Dr Gooley with his wife and a small number of deacons met with Pope Francis. The Pope affirmed the value of diaconal ministry in the life of the Church. Rev Dr Gooley s paper was very well received, leading to invitations to form global and regional partnerships, in addition to invitations to present in the USA, France and Germany. This pilgrimage to Rome highlights the role BBI plays in fostering academic scholarship and its contribution to the Church in local, regional and global contexts. The BBI release was dated 30 June 2016. Anthony has said that he hopes to expand the text of his talk and publish it. Mark s ready for fire, flood and avalanche DEACON Mark Kelly has experience in dealing with the effects of fire and flood and he s prepared, if necessary, to deal with the effects of an avalanche as well. Mark works mainly in parish and school ministry. He s also an expert in helping people through trauma caused by disaster. His rather lengthy title for this ministry is
9 Area Coordinator with the Victorian Council of Churches Emergency Ministry (VCCEM). He is also a qualified Incident Activity Coordinator for the Gippsland region. Mark serves in the partner parishes of Drouin and Warragul in the Sale diocese of Victoria. He s also chaplain to Marist - Sion College in Warragul he has an office there and is there part of each school day and works with the three Catholic primary schools in the parishes. He s involved in RCIA. His wife, Hilary, is a lector, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion who visits the sick and is president of the local Catholic Women s League. Between us we do quite a bit in the parish, Mark said. Mark also does quite a bit outside the parish. He s secretary of the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission and a diocesan representative on the Victorian Council of Churches. He has just been appointed diocesan representative on Catholic Social Services Victoria, the umbrella body for Catholic community services in Victoria. He s also treasurer of the National Association of Deacons. I do quite a bit with menalive, the men s group, which I got started in the parish, he said. MenALIVE brings men together to renew their faith in God and to encourage them to become an active force of renewal in the Church. It s in something like 80 parishes in Australia and now it s launching off in the United States and New Zealand. It encourages men to be good fathers, good citizens and good Catholics. Mark s helping it to expand into nearby parishes. In our parishes we have three prayer groups for men which get together regularly, a men s choir, which has been singing monthly but is now singing fortnightly, alternating between the two major Mass centres a whole lot of blokes, some of whom have never sung in public before. We have Communion breakfasts and we get speakers in. We run a DVD library at each of the Mass centres as well. People have donated quite a collection of religious and wholesome mainstream DVDs, including kids DVDs. All this has come from menalive. A lot of men have become involved in parish ministries, men who weren t involved before. It s been a winner, really. Mark first became involved in the Victorian Council of Churches Emergencies Ministry when he was asked to help victims of the terrible Black Saturday bushfires of 7 February 2009. They claimed 173 lives and destroyed 145 houses. I d never heard of this mob, VCCEM, before, he said. It was a very steep learning curve for me. Mark admits that he may not have handled that first emergency very well. Since then he has done a lot of training and, after many courses, he has become a trainer himself. Most of the chaplains come
from the member churches of the Victorian Council of Churches. Mark s rather proud of the fact that he has trained some young and very keen Muslim chaplains in disaster ministry. There is also a small group of Buddhist chaplains. When I began, the concept of psychological first aid was fairly new to me. Largely it s being with people immediately after a disaster. It s almost the sort of thing we deacons do as a reflex action in our ministry being there for people, listening, reaching out, not making assumptions about people, making humane, supportive responses, helping people feel safe and connected, referring people to different services where it s appropriate, damping down the initial trauma, helping them feel more hopeful. They come to you in a state of shock. Often their thinking is askew. Sometimes what they see as issues aren t issues at all. That s part of trauma. That s part of discombobulation. In the Gippsland region, the most likely disaster is bushfire all too common a threat in summer. In winter the threat is more likely to be flood. With the recent rains, Mark has been on standby for floods in the last few weeks, but so far floods have been minor in his region. Mt Baw-Baw, with its ski resort, is in Mark s region and there s always the possibility of avalanche. We have groups ready to address these things in all the municipalities in my region, Mark said. VCCEM is now the prime agency for all of them. So, if we have an incident or emergency in the shire where I am, or in any of the other shires in Gippsland, it s anticipated that we ll take the lead in meeting people coming to relief centres and taking them to Red Cross, or the Department of Social Services, or the Department of Primary Industry, or the Country Fire Authority, or Victoria Police, or whatever agency they may need to see. Or it may be just looking after them or, if we have enough personnel, simply being with them as they do their initial debriefing. So we re their first point of contact. Mark was in charge of the emergency response for the Hazelwood Coal Mine fire. Victoria was experiencing one of its hottest and driest summers on record when the fire broke out. It was probably the longest fire in Victoria s history. It burned in the open cut coal mine in February and March 2014 just outside Morwell in the Latrobe Valley. Morwell was covered in a pall of foul smoke and ash and many people, especially children and older people had to be evacuated. Ironically, earlier in his life Mark had worked at Hazelwood Power Station. I fought a fire there in 1983 myself, Mark said. It s appalling stuff to try to put out, brown coal. You pour water on it for days and days and days, and the fire just springs up again. The 2014 fire burnt for 45 days. Mark had a team on duty for 42 days and he was there for most of those days. Quite a lot of people were evacuated from Morwell to Moe, he said. We had a team in Morwell, which was looked after by Heather Martin, the Anglican vicar general down the road. I looked after Moe, where we had our main relief centre. Heather s team was going from door to door and making contact with the people who stayed in Morwell. In Moe we were looking after those who had been evacuated. There were lots of families with kids. They d closed the primary schools in Morwell and they were spread out among the surrounding schools, both government schools and Catholic schools. In the end we were drawing on chaplains from all over the state. Mark was involved in the post disaster analysis and inquiries that followed. Some of the witnesses were full of passion, he said. I simply gave a resume of what I had seen from my point of view. We ve also had fires around Sale, which 10
11 is the seat of our diocese, about an hour and a half s drive from our place. Some fires tore through some lakeside communities there in 2011. We were down there for the fires themselves, running a relief centre, right in the city of Sale. We ve also been back doing follow up visits, six and 12 and 18 months after the fires, just to see how people are travelling. It keeps us busy. Deacon Nick Kerr NAD NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEACONS AUSTRALIA 2017 DEACON S CONFERENCE Go therefore and make disciples (Matthew 28:19) Deacons as ministers of the new evangelisation Thursday 23 March to Sunday 26 March To help with planning please register your interest at https://www.trybooking.com/199213 This registration is not a commitment but will allow the organisers to plan for the conference. Further information: Rev Deacon Michael Hangan, Archdiocese of Hobart, GPO Box 62, Hobart TAS 7009, Phone:03 6208 6270 (work), Phone: 03 6273 1620 (home), Mobile: 0407 533 925, Email: Michael.hangan@aohtas.org.au Editor : Deacon Nick Kerr Adelaide Diocesan Centre, 39 Wakefield Street, Adelaide, Phone 0413 431 244, Email: nickkerr@optusnet.com.au Design & Layout : Joby Thachappilly Fifthcolour Multimedia, Adelaide Phone 0466898457 www.fifthcolour.com Email: connect@fifthcolour.com
12 Membership Application APPLICANT S DETAILS: [ PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY ] Surname :...Given name (s) :...... Preferred Name :... Residential Address :.........Post Code :... Mailing Address (if different from Residential Address).........Post Code :... Diocese :...Parish:... Telephone:...Mobile:... Email:... Date of Ordination :...Place of Ordination :...... Current Ministry Activity :... Signature :... NAD represents all the Catholic Deacons of Australia and is associated with the National Council of Priests (NCP) as a sub-association within the NCP. A copy of this application form will be sent to NCP who will invoice you for your membership fees. Membership fee is $100, except for newly ordained and those retired from ministry, when the fee is $50. NAD aims to provide a forum for deacons in Australia gathering their views, ideas and experiences. Through our membership with the NCP we are able to have a voice in matters concerning clergy life and ministry with the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. NAD also has relationships with key people involved in the formation of deacons in Australian dioceses, ordinariates and eparchies. Please forward to Secretary, National Association of Deacons, 12 Bolton Close, Brookfield QLD 4069 Or send a scanned copy to the Secretary at : nelhouse@bigpond.net.au