The Deacon

By Deacon Bob Rice, Ph.D.

Pope Leo XIV has referred to himself as a “son of Augustine.” Though his pontificate is less than a year old and he has not yet produced a significant writing to articulate a “mission statement” for his papacy, one can see a clear Augustinian foundation in what he has said and done thus far. Whatever unique fruit is borne from Pope Leo’s pontificate, its roots will be found in the person and writings of St. Augustine.

Many titles can be attributed to St. Augustine, the most famous being Doctor gratiae, “Doctor of Grace.” A lesser known title, but no less significant, is the “Father of Catechesis.” Catechesis is a ministry that depends on right message and right method, and St. Augustine beautifully modeled both. One of the best examples of his message can be found throughout the Catechism of the Catholic Church where he is quoted more than any other saint. His method can be best seen in his work, De catechizandis rudibus, often translated as “The First Catechetical Instruction.”

The work was prompted by a deacon, Deo gratias, who was experiencing difficulties in catechizing the “rudibus,” which means both those who are “uneducated” and those who are “crude” or “rough.” This was a new challenge for the Church in the 4th century. Previously, to become Christian was to risk martyrdom, so only the most serious accepted the faith. But when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the formal religion of the Empire, people became Christian because it was the socially correct thing to do. They would go through the motions but not allow their hearts to be changed by the Holy Spirit. One can see parallels in those who are catechized today: children dropped off for sacramental formation and who disappear once those sacraments are received.

Just as St. Augustine helped the deacon Deo gratias to catechize the people of the 4th and 5th century, it can be expected that Pope Leo XIV, an Augustinian, will provide a model of catechesis for deacons today.

Encountering Jesus in Scripture

Though there were many events that led to St. Augustine’s conversion, the definitive moment was when he opened the Bible to Romans 13:13-14: “Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” (NABRE) He wrote, “No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.” (Augustine, Confessions, Book 8)

Augustine personally encountered Jesus in Scripture and this is reflected in his writings and preachings. He encouraged Deo gratias to do the same when he explained how everything in Scripture, be it in the New Testament or Old, should be seen in the light of Jesus Christ: “Therefore, in the Old Testament the New is concealed, and in the New the Old is revealed.” (Augustine, First Catechetical Instruction, 8)

In his Wednesday audiences, Pope Leo has continued the “Cycle of Catechesis” that Pope Francis began, expounding on the Scriptures that point to “Jesus Christ, Our Hope.” Like St. Augustine encouraged Deo gratias, Pope Leo models for deacons, priests, and bishops to keep Jesus at the center of preaching and encourage the listeners not to be passive receivers but active participants. In his first catechesis on the Parable of the Sower, Leo said, “the term ‘parable’ comes from the Greek verb paraballein, which means to throw in front of. The parable throws before me a word that provokes me and prompts me to question myself…Let us ask the Lord for the grace always to welcome this seed that is his Word.” (General Audience, May 21, 2025)

Church History as Salvation History

In the conclusion of The First Catechetical Instruction, Augustine told Deo gratias that it was important to give catechumens a sense of the bigger story, the narratizo, that they were a part of by being Christians. Like the previous Church Fathers, he outlined salvation history as reflected in Scripture. But Augustine added a new dimension: the history of the Church. Though God revealed the fullness of himself in Jesus who is, “the mediator and sum total of Revelation,” (Dei Verbum 11) God’s saving work has continued and will continue until Christ comes again. The Holy Spirit’s work in the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople were examples of this. Augustine said we must help those we catechize see salvation history as their own story, not just something of the past but the present.

Leo XIV became pope on the 1,700 anniversary of the Council of Nicea, the first ecumenical council of the Church. He said, “The Council of Nicaea is not merely an event of the past, but a compass that must continue to guide us towards the full visible unity of all Christians.” (June 7, 2025) Like St. Augustine, Leo took a moment in the Church’s past to give guidance to the Church’s present and connect his listeners to that bigger story.

This approach is not only a model for deacons in the ministry of catechesis but also a model for a catechesis on the diaconate. A short-sighted view of the permanent diaconate would be to see it as an experiment from the 1960s to have some married clergy in the Latin rite. The broader perspective is that deacons and diaconal grace has been an essential part of the proclamation of the Gospel and the history of the Catholic Church, and permanent deacons are a contemporary expression of that movement of the Holy Spirit. Permanent deacons today should feel they are small but important part of the narratizo of salvation history, as modeled by such saints as Stephen, Philip, Laurence, Ephrem, and Francis.

The Love of God

The recurring theme of Augustine’s advice to Deo gratias is that catechesis should be focused on the love of God, both as the motivation for the catechist and the goal of catechesis. “With this love, then, set before you as an end to which you may refer all that you say, so give all your instructions that he to whom you speak by hearing may believe, and by believing may hope, and by hoping may love.” (Augustine, First Catechetical Instruction, 8)

This has been a recurring theme of Pope Leo. On his reflection on Holy Saturday, he said, “to descend, for God, is not a defeat, but the fulfillment of his love. It is not a failure, but the way by which he shows that no place is too far away, no heart is too closed, no tomb too tightly sealed for his love.” (General Audience, Sept. 24, 2025)

As quoted in the Catechism, “The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends.” (CCC 25) This is one of the major differences between education and catechesis. Education focuses on the mind; catechesis involves both mind and heart. Education conveys information, but catechesis is about transformation, and the only way we can be transformed is if we encounter the love of Jesus Christ.

Summary

Though it is early in his pontificate, one can see these Augustinian principles in two of his earliest decisions: the name he chose and the imagery on his coat of arms. He took his pontifical name not only to honor Leo the Great but to also draw attention to the pontificate of Leo XIII, because he sees parallels in the challenges of the late 19th century with what the Church faces in the 21st. He used the past as a compass for the present. On Leo’s coat of arms is an image of a heart pierced by an arrow sitting on top of a Bible. This is a reference to St. Augustine’s conversion, who described his personal encounter of God in Scripture with the phrase: “You have pierced my heart with your Word.”

Like his “father” St. Augustine, Pope Leo is using Scripture to help others encounter Jesus, connecting the past of the Church to the present, and focusing his preaching on the love of God. May those who are ordained to be “heralds of the Gospel” do the same. TD

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