A Portrait of the Permanent Diaconate: A Study for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 2014-2015

CARA Report for permanent deacons 2014-2015 by Mary L. Gautier, Ph.D. and Thomas P. Gaunt, S.J., Ph.D.

This report presents findings from a national survey of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate in arch/dioceses and arch/eparchies in the United States. The study was commissioned by the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This is the ninth survey of Offices of the Permanent Diaconate that CARA has conducted for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The original questionnaire was designed in collaboration with the Executive Director of the USCCB Secretariat for the Diaconate. 

CARA completed data collection in late April 2015, after extensive follow-up by mail, email, telephone, and fax.  At the completion of data collection, CARA had 2014-2015 information from 152 of the 192 arch/dioceses and arch/eparchies whose bishops and eparchies belong to the USCCB, for a 79 percent overall completion rate.2  The response rate is higher among arch/dioceses (85 percent, or 150 of 177 possible responses) than among arch/eparchies (13 percent, or two of 16 possible responses). 

Diaconate-Post-ordination-Report-2015-FINAL.pdf