St. Maria Goretti Parish

WASHINGTON – “Deacons serve an invaluable role in bringing the hope of the Gospel to all members of society,” said Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing. “By their witness in the local Church, within their families, at the workplace, and while serving the poor, the life of a deacon displays the servant heart of Christ in their faithful, and often hidden, acts of charity.” 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations has released its annual survey, A Portrait of the Permanent Diaconate in 2025: A Study for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Since 2005, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University has conducted this survey which provides important statistics and forecasting trends on the state of the permanent diaconate in the Church in the United States.  

“With the release of this survey, I ask for continued prayers for deacons and for an increase in vocations to the permanent diaconate within the United States,” said Bishop Boyea, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.  

The survey utilized contact information from the National Association of Diaconate Directors (NADD) and was sent to the Office of the Permanent Diaconate in the Latin and Eastern Rite (arch)dioceses and eparchies. In total, CARA received responses from 140 of the 185 (arch)dioceses/eparchies whose bishops are members of the USCCB and have an active Office of Deacons, for a 76% response rate.  

The full survey conducted by CARA may be accessed here. 

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The cultural and pastoral diversity among clergy is not a burden but a gift that should enrich communion within the church rather than fragment it, Pope Leo XIV told the priests and deacons of the Diocese of Rome.

"Ours is truly a particular diocese," the pope said during a June 12 audience with clergy ministering in the Diocese of Rome. "Many priests come from different parts of the world, especially for reasons of study; this implies that pastoral life -- I think especially of the parishes -- is marked by this universality and the mutual hospitality it entails."

The gathering marked the pope's first official meeting with the clergy of the diocese he serves as bishop.

"I have desired to meet you to get to know you more closely and to begin walking together with you," he told them. "Thank you for your life given in service to the kingdom, for your daily labors, for your generosity in ministry, for all that you live in silence, and which at times is accompanied by suffering or misunderstanding."

Greeting the pope at the start of the meeting, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, papal vicar for Rome, offered a snapshot of the vast and varied clergy in the Italian capital, where more than 8,000 priests and deacons are present, he said, many of whom, however, are pursuing their studies and are not in active ministry.

"The Roman clergy is generous, with a strong sense of belonging and a very marked pastoral passion," the cardinal said. "In the face of difficulties, it reacts positively -- candid in acknowledging problems or critical issues, with a pronounced sense of humor and always ready to begin again for the good of the church and each community."

In his address, Pope Leo emphasized the need for unity among the clergy in today's age.

"The priest is called to be a man of communion so that he himself may live it and continuously nurture it," he said. "We know that this communion today is hindered by a cultural climate that favors isolation or self-referentiality. None of us is exempt from these snares which threaten the solidity of our spiritual life and the strength of our ministry."

While shared housing in seminaries and rectories helps foster fraternity in Rome, the pope said deeper unity requires more than physical proximity. "I ask you for a push in priestly fraternity, which draws its roots from a solid spiritual life, from the encounter with the Lord and listening to his word."

"Let us strive to live relationships of friendship," he said, "outdoing one another in showing esteem."

Turning to personal witness, Pope Leo asked that all the clergy "commit ourselves to being credible and exemplary priests!"

He acknowledged human weakness but stressed the high demands of the priestly calling. "We are aware of the limits of our nature, and the Lord knows us deeply; but we have received an extraordinary grace, we have been entrusted with a precious treasure of which we are the ministers, servants. And a servant is asked to be faithful."

"The city, with its countless offerings, could also distance us from the desire for a holy life," he warned. "Let yourselves once again be drawn by the call of the master, to feel and live the love of the first hour, the one that moved you to make strong choices and courageous sacrifices."

Pope Leo also reminded clergy that the world's many problems are not distant realities to be ignored, but that they are present in the heart of Rome and challenge the church's ministers to live charitably.

"We are worried and pained by all that happens every day in the world: we are wounded by the violence that generates death; we are challenged by inequalities, by poverty, by so many forms of social exclusion, by a widespread suffering that now spares no one," he said. "And these realities do not only happen elsewhere, far from us, but also concern our city of Rome, marked by multiple forms of poverty and by serious emergencies such as that of housing."

"The Lord wanted us precisely in this time full of challenges that can seem bigger than our strength," the pope said. "We are called to embrace these challenges, to interpret them evangelically, to live them as opportunities for witness. Let us not run away in the face of them!"

Pope Leo then invoked the words of St. Augustine speaking on the Good Shepherd to urge the clergy to "love this church, remain in this church, be this church."

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