1. The presentation of aspirants

• 40. The decision to undertake the path of diaconal formation can come about either upon the initiative of the aspirant himself or by means of an explicit proposal of the community to which the aspirant belongs. In each case, the decision must be accepted and shared by the community.

On behalf of the community, it is the pastor (or the superior in religious houses) who must present to the Bishop (or competent Major Superior) the aspirant to the diaconate. He will do so accompanying the candidacy with an illustration of the motivations which support it and with a curriculum vitae and pastoral history of the aspirant.
The Bishop (or competent Major Superior), after having consulted the director of formation and the formation team, will decide whether or not to admit the aspirant to the propaedeutic period.

• 41. With admission among the aspirants to diaconate there begins a propaedeutic period, which must be of an appropriate length. During this period the aspirants will be introduced to a deeper knowledge of theology, of spirituality and of the ministry of deacon and they will be led to a more attentive discernment of their call.

• 42. The director of formation is responsible for the propaedeutic period; depending on the cases, he may entrust the aspirants to one or more tutors. It is to be hoped that, where circumstances permit, the aspirants may form their own community, with its own cycle of meetings and prayer which also foresees times in common with the community of candidates.

The director of formation will ensure that each aspirant is accompanied by an approved spiritual director and will make contact with the pastor of each one (or another priest) in order to programme the pastoral placement. In addition, he will make contact with the families of married aspirants to make sure of their openness to accepting, sharing and accompanying the vocation of their relative.
• 43. The programme of the propaedeutic period, usually, should not provide school lessons, but rather meetings for prayer, instructions, moments of reflection and comparison directed towards ensuring the objective nature of the vocational discernment, according to a well structured plan.

Even during this period, care should be taken, wherever possible, to involve the wives of the aspirants.

• 44. The aspirants are invited to carry out a free and self conscious discernment, basing it on the requirements necessary for the diaconal ministry, without allowing themselves to be conditioned by personal interests or external pressures of any sort.(47)

At the end of the propaedeutic period, the director of formation, after having consulted the formation team and taking account of all the elements in his possession, will present to the proper Bishop (or competent Major Superior) a declaration which outlines the profile of the aspirants' personalities and also, on request, a judgement of suitability.
For his part, the Bishop (or the competent Major Superior) will enlist among the candidates for the diaconate only those about whom he will have reached a moral certainty of suitability, whether because of personal knowledge or because of information received from the formators.

• 45. Admission to candidacy for ordination as deacon comes about by means of a special liturgical rite, "by which one who aspires to the diaconate or priesthood publicly manifests his will to offer himself to God and the Church, so that he may exercise sacred orders. The Church, accepting this offering, chooses and calls him to prepare himself to receive a sacred order, and in this way he is rightly numbered among candidates for the diaconate".(48)

• 46. The competent superior for this acceptance is the Bishop himself or, for members of a clerical religious institute of pontifical rite or of a clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right, the Major Superior.(49)
• 47. By reason of its public character and its ecclesial significance, the rite is to be held in proper esteem and celebrated preferably on a feast day. The aspirant is to prepare himself for it by a spiritual retreat.

• 48. The liturgical rite of admission must be preceded by a request for enrolment among the candidates, which must be prepared and personally signed by the aspirant himself and accepted in writing by the proper Bishop or Major Superior to whom it is addressed.(50)

Enrolment among the candidates for the diaconate does not constitute any right necessarily to receive diaconal ordination. It is a first official recognition of the positive signs of the vocation to the diaconate, which must be confirmed in the subsequent years of formation.

• 49. The formation programme must last at least three years, in addition to the propaedeutic period, for all candidates.(51)
• 50. The Code of Canon Law prescribes that young candidates receive their formation residing "for at least three years in a special house, unless the diocesan Bishop for grave reasons decides otherwise".(52) "The Bishops of a region—or, where it would be useful, those of several regions in the same country—should join in establishing a college of this kind, depending on local circumstances. They should choose particularly well-fitted men to be in charge of it and should make clear rules regarding discipline and studies".(53) Care should be taken that these candidates have good relationships with the deacons of the diocese to which they belong.
• 51. For those more mature candidates, whether single or married, the Code of Canon Law prescribes that they "prepare for three years in a manner determined by the Episcopal Conference".(54) Where circumstances permit, this preparation must be undertaken in the context of a full participation in the community of candidates, which will have its own calendar of meetings for prayer and formation and will also foresee meetings in common with the community of aspirants.

Different ways of organizing the formation are possible for these candidates. Due to work and family commitments, the most common models foresee formational and scholastic meetings in the evenings, during weekends, at holiday time or with a combination of the various possibilities. Where geographical factors might present particular difficulties it will be necessary to consider other models, extending over a longer time period or making use of modern means of communication.
• 52. For candidates belonging to institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life, formation will be carried out according to the directives of the eventual ratio of the person's institute or society, or by using the structures of the diocese in which the candidates are to be found.

• 53. In the cases in which the above-mentioned ways of formation might not be set up or be impracticable, "then the candidate should be entrusted to some priest of outstanding judgement who will take a special interest in him and teach him, and who will be able to testify to his maturity and prudence. Great care must always be taken that only those who have enough learning and are suitable are enrolled in the sacred order".(55)

• 54. In all cases the director of formation (or the priest responsible) will check that during the whole time of formation every candidate will maintain his commitment to spiritual direction with his own approved spiritual director. In addition, he will ensure the accompaniment, evaluation and eventual modification of each one's pastoral internship.

• 55. The formation programme, which will be outlined in general in the next chapter, must integrate in a harmonious manner the different areas of formation (human, spiritual, theological and pastoral), it must be theologically well founded, have a specific pastoral finality and be adapted to local needs and pastoral programmes.

• 56. The wives and children of married candidates and the communities to which they belong should also be involved in appropriate ways. In particular, there should be also a specific programme of formation for the wives of candidates, to prepare them for their future mission of accompanying and supporting their husband's ministry.

• 57. "Before anyone may be promoted to the diaconate, whether permanent or transitory, he must have received the ministries of lector and acolyte, and have exercised them for an appropriate time",(56) so that he may "be better disposed for the future service of the word and the altar".(57) In fact the Church "considers it to be very opportune that both by study and by gradual exercise of the ministry of the word and of the altar, candidates for sacred orders should through intimate contact understand and reflect upon the double aspect of the priestly office. Thus it comes about that the authenticity of the ministry shines out with the greatest effectiveness. In this way the candidates come to sacred orders fully aware of their vocation, 'fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, constant in prayer and aware of the needs of the faithful' (Rm 12:11-13)".(58)

The identity of these ministries and their pastoral relevance are illustrated in the Apostolic Letter Ministeria quaedam, to which reference should be made.

• 58. Aspirants to lectorate and acolytate, on the invitation of the director of formation, will make a request for admission, which has been compiled and signed freely, and present it to the Ordinary (the Bishop or Major Superior) who has the authority to accept it.(59) Having accepted the request, the Bishop or Major Superior will proceed to the conferral of the ministries, according to the rite of the Roman Pontifical.(60)

• 59. It is appropriate that a certain period of time elapse between the conferring of lectorate and acolytate in such a way that the candidate may exercise the ministry he has received.(61) "Between the conferring of the ministry of acolyte and the diaconate there is to be an interval of at least six months".(62)

• 60. At the conclusion of the formation journey, the candidate who, in agreement with the director of formation, considers himself to have the necessary pre-requisites for ordination, may address to the proper Bishop or competent Major Superior "a declaration written in his own hand and signed by him, in which he attests that he is about to receive the sacred order freely and of his own accord and will devote himself permanently to the ecclesiastical ministry, asking at the same time that he be admitted to receive the order".(63)
• 61. With this request the candidate must enclose the certificate of baptism, of confirmation and of the ministries mentioned in can. 1035, and the certificate of studies duly completed in accordance with can. 1032.(64) If the ordinand to be promoted is married, he must present his marriage certificate and the written consent of his wife.(65)

• 62. Having received the request of the ordinand, the Bishop (or competent Major Superior) will evaluate his suitability by means of a diligent scrutiny. First of all he will examine the certificate which the director of formation is obliged to present to him "concerning the qualities required in the candidate for the reception of the order, namely sound doctrine, genuine piety, good moral behavior, fitness for the exercise of the ministry; likewise, after proper investigation, a certificate of the candidate's state of physical and psychological health".(66) "The diocesan Bishop or Major Superior may, in order properly to complete the investigation, use other means which, taking into account the circumstances of time and place, may seem useful, such as testimonial letters, public notices or other sources of information".(67)

After having verified the suitability of a candidate and having been assured that he is aware of the new obligations which he is assuming,(68) the Bishop or competent Major Superior will promote him to the order of the diaconate.

• 63. Before ordination, unmarried candidates must assume publicly, in the prescribed rite, the obligation of celibacy; (69) candidates belonging to an institute of consecrated life or a society of apostolic life who have taken perpetual vows or other form of definitive commitment in the institute or society are also obliged to this.(70) All candidates are bound personally, before ordination, to make a profession of faith and an oath of fidelity, according to the formulae approved by the Apostolic See, in the presence of the Ordinary of the place or his delegate.(71)

• 64. "Each candidate is to be ordained...to the diaconate by his proper Bishop, or with lawful dimissorial letters granted by that Bishop".(72) If the candidate belongs to a clerical religious institute of pontifical right or to a clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right it belongs to the Major Superior to grant him dimissorial letters.(73)
• 65. The ordination, carried out according to the rite of the Roman Pontifical,(74) is to be celebrated during solemn Mass, preferably on a Sunday or holy day of obligation, and generally in the Cathedral Church.(75) The ordinands prepare themselves for it by making "a retreat for at least five days, in a place and in the manner prescribed by the Ordinary".(76) During the rite special attention should be given to the participation of the wives and children of the married ordinands.