Top photo caption: Candidates for the permanent diaconate lie prostrate before the altar during the Litany of the Saints in the Rite of Ordination Nov. 15 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold. The nine men were ordained by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and began ministries of service to the people of the Diocese of Trenton through the proclamation of the Gospel, works of charity and service to the Church.
By Gina Christian OSV News
OSV News – Catholic permanent deacons – who in 2025 numbered more than 21,000 in the U.S., with close to 15,000 in active ministry – “bring a spirit of renewal and encouragement to the missionary ministry of the Church,” said Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.
The archbishop shared his thoughts in a June 22 press release unveiling the committee’s 2025 annual survey of the permanent diaconate in the U.S. Catholic Church.
The survey has been conducted since 2005 for the USCCB by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
CARA collected the data for this year’s report between February and May, receiving responses from 143 of the 185 dioceses and eparchies in the USCCB with an active deacon office. The overall response rate for the survey was 77%, with more dioceses (80%) than eparchies (22%), which are the Eastern Catholic equivalent of dioceses, participating.
Responding dioceses and eparchies reported a 2025 total of 17,621 permanent deacons (both active and not active), with the majority (17,590) from Latin Rite dioceses and 31 from the two eparchies that submitted data.
Based on those numbers, CARA estimated that there were as many 21,562 permanent deacons in the U.S. in 2025.
However, the estimated total for active permanent deacons was far lower, with CARA placing that figure at 69% of the total pool, or 14,879. That projection was based on survey respondents’ reported totals of 12,131 (Latin Rite) and 28 (Eastern Catholic) permanent deacons in 2025.
Among the responding diocese, the Archdiocese of Chicago (812) topped the list for the most permanent deacons in 2025, followed by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas (686); the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (507); the Archdiocese of San Antonio (427); and the Archdiocese of New York (362).
The lowest numbers of Catholics per permanent deacon were found in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky (500); the Diocese of Rapid City, Iowa (552); the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma (650); the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota (693); and the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota (713).
In 2025, a total of 466 new permanent deacons were ordained among the responding dioceses and eparchies. CARA estimated the total 2025 U.S. permanent diaconate ordinations to be 570. However, said the center, during the same year 494 deacons retired from active ministry, and another 390 died.
OSV News calculates that the total of diaconate retirements and deaths in 2025 outnumbered the ordinations by 418, based on the actual rather than estimated ordination total.
Broadly, most permanent deacons in the U.S. during 2025 were married (92%), non-Hispanic whites (71%) age 50 or more (96%). Two out of three (68%) have at least a college degree.
Just 2% never married, and 4% were widowed.
Slightly less than a quarter of the nation’s permanent deacons in 2025 (23%) were Hispanic or Latino.
Of the 96% age 50 or higher, more than one third (36%) were age 70 or more. Slightly less than half (42%) were in their 60s, and about one fifth (18%) in their 50s.
Most U.S. Catholic dioceses and eparchies responding to the survey (97%) indicated they have a minimum age (averaging 32 years old) for acceptance into the permanent diaconate. Far less (63%) specified a mandatory retirement age, which averaged 75 years old among survey respondents.
In addition, the majority (91%) of U.S. Catholic dioceses and eparchies participating in the survey said they have an active ministry formation program for the permanent diaconate. One third (31%) have such a program in Spanish.
The diaconate traces its roots to the commissioning of seven men as such in Acts 6:1-7.
As the Church expanded, the number of deacons gradually declined, starting in the fifth century. In 1967, Pope Paul VI formally reestablished the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church, following the Second Vatican Council, with calls for such renewal first issued during the Council of Trent and gaining momentum during the Second World War.
The permanent diaconate, along with the presbyterate (priesthood) and episcopacy (bishops), is now one of the three degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders in the Catholic Church.
In the report’s accompanying press release, Archbishop Hicks said that “the permanent diaconate” is key in “bringing the Gospel to life through their witness as icons of Christ the Servant.
“With their primary duty of service in the Church being to proclaim the Gospel, preach, and perform charitable works, deacons serve a unique and vital ministry in the life of the Church,” he said.”
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.