Big Turnout in the Big Easy
Thousands gather in New Orleans for the 2018 National Diaconate Congress
Deacon Digest staff Comments Off on Big Turnout in the Big Easy
As the Church in the United States celebrates the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the permanent diaconate, 1,300 deacons and their families — more than 2,700 people in all — flocked to New Orleans for the 2018 National Diaconate Congress, held July 22-26.
In his remarks at the opening Mass of the congress, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, reminded the deacons that their main job in serving the Church is partaking in the work of evengelization. “Don’t forget, the job is Jesus’. Otherwise, it is your job, your work, right? No. The work is Christ’s. It is one thing to serve at the altar. It is another to be an evangelizing force in the world.”
Keynote speakers during the week included Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey; Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri; Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Texas; Deacon Greg Kandra; and Teresa Tomeo and her husband, Deacon Dominick Pastore.
