Deacons who have recently moved into the Archdiocese, temporarily or permanently, must receive faculties as a visiting deacon before beginning any ministry in the Archdiocese. A “visiting deacon” is a deacon in active ministry in the Archdiocese, but who is not incardinated in the Archdiocese.

Visiting deacons and pastors should not negotiate any assignments or make any commitments about opportunities to minister without first contacting the Office of the Permanent Diaconate.  The process of obtaining a decree of appointment will include interviews with the visiting deacon, scrutiny of the deacon’s history of ministry and personal situation, and the review of references from his previous bishop and supervisors.

“A diocesan bishop is under no obligation to accept a permanent deacon–ordained or incardinated elsewhere–for assignment to a diocesan or parochial ministry. Nevertheless, since a permanent deacon is an ordained cleric, the bishop may not ordinarily forbid a visiting permanent deacon the exercise of his order provided that the deacon is under no censure” (ND 109).

Procedures for a temporary appointment, with or without the possibility of future incardination, require the following:

  1. Letter from the deacon indicating that he wants to minister in this Archdiocese.
  2. Letter from the Office of the Permanent Diaconate to the deacon’s previous diocese requesting a letter of suitability.
  3. Letter of recommendation from the bishop of the previous diocese indicating the deacon’s suitability for ministry.
  4. Criminal background check and proof of current VIRTUS certification.
  5. Letter of recommendation from the previous pastor or supervisor.
  6. Decree of assignment from the Archbishop assigning the deacon ad experimentum for six months.

After six months, the Director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate shall review the assignment by interviewing the pastor/supervisor and deacon. If the results are positive, the assignment may be extended, with or without a specified term.

 

Excardination (the releasing of a cleric from the jurisdiction of the diocese in which he is incardinated) and incardination (the official welcoming of a cleric into the jurisdiction of another diocese) is normally handled in the following manner:

  • The permanent deacon has been serving in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas “ad experimentum” (with an openness to incardination) for at least one year, has a positive recommendation from his pastor, and intends his domicile in the Archdiocese to be permanent.
  • The deacon petitioning for incardination writes a letter to the diocesan bishop of the diocese in which he is presently incardinated requesting excardination in order to be incardinated into the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. In this letter he states that his ministry is needed in the Archdiocese and that he intends his domicile in the Archdiocese to be permanent. A copy of this letter is sent to the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
  • At the same time that the deacon writes the letter requesting excardination, he also writes a letter to the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas requesting incardination into the Archdiocese. In this letter, the deacon states his intention to be permanently domiciled within the boundaries of the Archdiocese, his satisfaction with his ministry, and his desire to serve perpetually as a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese. A copy of this letter is sent to the bishop of the diocese to which the deacon is presently incardinated.
  • All further correspondence is done by the ordinaries of the two dioceses. If approved, the deacon will receive a letter of excardination from the bishop of his prior diocese (which does not take effect until he receives a letter of incardination) and a letter of incardination from the Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas.

Upon issuance of the letter of incardination, the permanent deacon becomes a cleric of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.