ASSOCIATES with the
Mercy Sisters help
establish a garden in
central city Charlotte,
North Carolina. Pictured
here are, from left,
associates Alex Roman
and Ty Barnes, along with
volunteer Tanya Pitts.
JIM LOCKMAN, COURTES Y OF SIS TERS OF MERC Y OF THE AMERICAS
JESSICA Swedzinski, left,
a member of the Secular
Institute of the Schoenstatt
Sisters of Mary, takes part
in the 2015 World Meeting
of Families in Philadelphia,
along with Glenda and Jamie
Puente, members of the
Schoenstatt Family Leagues.
COUR TES Y OF THE UNI TED STATES CONFERENCE OF SECULAR INS TITUTES
Franciscan, Carmelite, Benedictine,
and Dominican.
Permanent deacons
Permanent deacons are men, usually
35 or older and self-supporting, who
are ordained to minister in a diocese
after a formal period of formation
and training that the diocese oversees. The ministry of the deacon is
threefold: service, the word (such as
preaching, catechesis, retreat work,
or counseling), and liturgy, including
leading certain parts of the Mass and
presiding at Baptisms and weddings.
Deacons may also be involved with
parish pastoral ministry. Although
a permanent deacon may be married at the time of ordination, if he
is single at ordination, or if his wife
