National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent ...

134 Chapter 8and their families, especially monitoring those living and ministeringoutside the diocese, or deacons who may be ill or on a ministerialleave of absence. The director of deacon personnel also complementsthe bishop’s presence to and care for retired deacons and their families,as well as to deacon widowers and widows and their families.289. At the discretion of the diocesan bishop, the director of deaconpersonnel may be appointed as a liaison to diocesan departmentsand public agencies, as well as parishes, on diaconal matters.VIII. Post-Ordination Advisory StructuresDeacon Community Board290. The bishop may constitute a deacon community board torepresent the deacons and their spouses. Members of such an organizationwould include a suitable number of deacons and wives electedby the diaconal community and others appointed by the bishop,in accordance with the organization’s statutes, as approved by theordinary. The statutes should govern everything that relates to thepurposes and operation of the organization. A responsibility of thecommunity board could be the preparation of a deacon personnelhandbook, specifying appropriate norms or policies—rights, obligations,and responsibilities—for deacons serving the diocesanChurch. The bishop must authorize this text. This board also couldassist the bishop in planning, coordinating, and evaluating the postordinationeducational and spiritual formation program. The bishopor a priest designated as the bishop’s delegate in his absence servesas the board’s president. 24Deacon Personnel Board291. It may be desirable for the diocesan bishop to establish a deaconpersonnel board to assist him in assigning and evaluating deacons.Its role would be analogous to that of the priests’ personnelboard, which assists the diocesan bishop in ascertaining appropriateand suitable assignments based on the needs of the particularChurch and the capabilities of the individual. The establishment of adeacon personnel board could be a valuable resource to the bishopand director of deacon personnel. If constituted, the bishop or, in hisabsence, a priest designated by the bishop (e.g., his vicar general,vicar for the clergy) chairs this board. This board should maintain