by Xin Yage

The choice results from a declining number of priests, but also from a desire to enhance a vocation present in the Acts of the Apostles. Permanent deacons must be financially independent because their post is unpaid. The best age is between 45 and 55.

Taipei (AsiaNews) - Mgr Zhou Jiyuan, auxiliary bishop of Taipei, has been charged with an important pastoral task concerning the ordination of permanent deacons. "It is a task that requires patience but we start with resolve and hope to enable this type of vocation to develop within the Catholic Church in Taipei," he told AsiaNews in an interview.

There are no permanent deacons in Taiwan. For this reason, the city's archbishop, Mgr Hong Shanchuan, wants to establish a permanent diaconate on the island, as did the Church in Hong Kong, in 1988. Three deacons from the Cantonese city, and the wife of one of them, have been invited to talk about their experience at a meeting, held on 28 and 29 July. More than one hundred people from Taiwan's seven dioceses took part in the event.

"At the beginning, about 80 per cent of the clergy in Hong Kong was opposed to the proposal of having married or unmarried lay men," Mgr Zhou Jiyuan said. "Eventually, it became a success."

"It is a type of vocation needed not only because of a decline in priestly vocation, which is something noticeable, but also because it has solid Biblical roots in the Acts of the Apostles. A permanent deacon is not a half a priest or a faithful with something extra," the prelate said jokingly, someone with "a vocation in his own right."

As for the "rules of the game," candidates must be 25 if they are unmarried, 35 if "they are married . . . and their wives agree." They must be employed and financially self-sufficient because the diaconate is not a paid position, except for a few expenses covered by the diocese.

Since it is not "a vocation for retirees with no other commitment," deacons' mission includes the liturgical celebration of weddings, funerals, administering the Eucharist to the sick, reading the Gospel during the Eucharist, visiting hospitals, prisons, and HIV patients and other marginalised people.

"The best age to become a deacon is between 45 and 55," participants in the two-day presentation were told. Candidates must also study theology and take other courses.

When it comes to dress, deacons must not wear the Roman collar, but only the alb and stole during celebrations. They can retire from their mission at the age of 75.

"The story of the wife of one of the three deacons was particularly nice," Mgr Zhou noted. The same was true "for the passionate address f Fr Guo, a Taiwanese priest, who pleaded with the archbishop to push the proposal because the diaconate's mission is particularly important for Taiwan."

• taiwan
• diaconate
• roman
• catholic
• church
• Zhou
• Jiyuan
• Hong
• Shanchuan