A new survey from the U.S. Bishops’ Conference and George town University shows that the number of permanent deacons in active ministry in the U.S. last year is the lowest since 2011, which “is [a trend] in keeping with the slow decline of the diaconate over the past several years.”
The survey, “A Portrait of the Permanent Diaconate in 2022,” found that there are an estimated 13,695 permanent deacons in active ministry. The figure is about 1,000 less than the average number of permanent deacons in active ministry since 2011 – about 14, 635.
Commenting on the survey, Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, chair of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, highlighted the imp-ortance of permanent deacons to the church in a recent statement. He did not respond to a Crux re-quest for comment on the survey.
“Permanent deacons are essential to the Church’s ministry of love and service, especially to the poor and vulnerable,” Boyea said in the statement. “By virtue of their ordination, they give witness to Christ the Servant in the daily exercise of their work and ministry.”
The survey was published by the USCCB Committee on Cler-gy, Consecrated Life, and Voca-tions, in concert the Center for Applied Research in the Aposto-late (CARA) at Georgetown University. The same survey has been conducted on an annual basis since 2005, aside from a few years in between.