Renewed as a permanent order of the clergy at the Vatican II council and currently the only growing branch of the clergy in the US, permanent deacons are today assuming an increasingly important role in the Church and its diverse functions. As the deacons' role is constantly refined and redefined, the proceedings of the National Association of Diaconate Directors has emerged as the most important forum for charting and guiding that evolution.

This book is a collection of the three keynote addresses to the National Association of Diaconate Directors at their April 2005 annual meeting. An archbishop, a bishop and a deacon hold forth on contemporary issues relevant to the Order of Deacons, in particular the theology of "restorative justice" and the impact and implementation of the new National Directory for Permanent Deacons. An introduction by NADD executive director Deacon Greg Urban is included—as are responses from three distinguished authors: a priest, a deacon, and a lay woman.

This collection will make vital reading for all deacon directors and for deacons and their wives, as well as for professors of theology and members of the other two orders (priests and bishops).
†