Episode Details

Deacon Thady welcomes Deacon Wally Calabrese from Havelock, North Carolina, whose book on the permanent diaconate has been generating wide feedback from deacons across the United States and internationally. Wally describes his background: a blue-collar family from Utica, Michigan, drifting from the Church after Confirmation and the Marine Corps, until his wife Amy brought him to a Christus Noster parish retreat where, during adoration, he heard a clear interior call to the diaconate.

His book addresses the widespread confusion — even among Catholics — about who the permanent deacon actually is, rooted in the misleading contrast between “permanent” and “transitional”: he argues that every bishop and priest remains a deacon, that the diaconate is not a function but a vocation and an identity. He and Deacon Thady discuss the uneven spread of the diaconate globally (110 active in Wally’s diocese; only 15 of 26 Irish dioceses have it; none in the Philippines), the irreplaceable role of the deacon’s wife as primary vocation, visiting the sick and dying, and accompanying families at moments of bereavement. A warm and informative conversation.

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L'articolo RM Breakfast Show – The Importance of Permanent Deacons – Deacon Thady and Deacon Wally Calabrese proviene da Radio Maria.