A
diaconia
was originally an establishment built near a church building, for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in medieval Rome or Naples (the successor to the Roman grain supply system, often standing on the very sites of its
stationes annonae
). Examples included the sites of
San Vito
,
Santi Alessio e Bonifacio
, and
Sant'Agatha
[1]
in Rome,
San Gennaro
in Naples (headed by a deacon named John in the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century.
[2]
The
popes
allocated to the Romans bathing through
diaconia
, or private
Lateran
baths, or even a myriad of monastic
bath houses
functioning in eighth and ninth centuries.
[3]
Meaning and spelling of the term
[
edit
]
An alternative spelling,
diakonia
, is a Christian theological term from Greek that encompasses the call to serve the poor and oppressed. The terms
deaconess
and
diaconate
also come from the same root, which refers to the emphasis on service within those vocations. In scripture
deacons
were those whom the Church appointed to dispense alms, and take care of the poor.
Diakonia is a term derived from Greek, used in the Bible, New Testament, with different meanings. Sometimes, refers to the specific kind to help any people in need. At other times, it means to serve the tables, and still, others refer to the distribution of financial resources. Diaconia contained
public bathing
facilities to
serve both the clerics and needy poor people
.
[4]
Also in contemporary theology, the word diakonia presents a variety of connotations and representations. For FLD (Diakonal Lutherans Foundation in Brazil)
[1]
, diakonia means serve to change people's lives, to contribute to the construction of citizenship of the less fortunate. Diakonal activities include but are not limited to the provision of medical care, long-term care for the
elderly
and the socially underprivileged, support for
migrants
and their
integration
,
Roma
inclusion, job coaching, etc.
The term
Diakonie
is a constant reminder of the selfless love taught by Jesus in such gospel passages as Luke 10:25?37,
the story of the Good Samaritan
. Early disciples were particularly responsive to the fact that the
Jesus
had lived, taught, and died in lowly circumstances. They thought that if the master had chosen to be seen as a servant, the leaders of congregations had to follow.
The word has now come to mean the
titular church
of a
Cardinal Deacon
.
Also in some South American countries, it is a native meal.
Diaconal education
[
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]
The second volume of
Gerhard Kittel
's
Theologisches Worterbuch poo zum Neuen Testament
(
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
) can be considered as the scholarly prop on which the contemporary view of ministry/diakonia leans..
History of diaconal institutions in the 19th century
[
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]
In the 1830s initiatives within German
Lutheranism
started the creation of communities of men and especially of women who were dedicated exclusively to the works of charity so desperately needed in the wake of social dislocations created by industrialization and the
Napoleonic wars
. By the 1930s such institutions had opened in many cities in central and northern Europe. The geographical spread was accompanied by the growth of a distinctively modern diaconal spirituality centered on the servant roles of the deacon and deaconess in their meeting the needs of the poor and the destitute.
Current usage in German-speaking countries
[
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]
Germany
[
edit
]
Diakonie Deutschland
is one of the largest social welfare organizations in Germany. It is one of six members of
BAGFW
[
de
]
, the
federal association of free social welfare organizations
.
The parent organization and its members employed 599,282 people in 2018 and were supported by about 700,000 volunteers.
At the start of 2018 Diakonie Deutschland had 31,594 institutions and services offering a total of 1,174,765 places/beds.
[5]
Austria
[
edit
]
Diakonie Osterreich
[
de
]
in Austria had circa 9,000 employees and was supported by 1,500 volunteers in 2017.
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Letters of Pope Gregory, IV, 19; P.L., LXXVII, 688
- ^
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: John the Deacon
- ^
Squatriti, Paolo (2002).
Water and Society in Early Medieval Italy, AD 400?1000, Parti 400?1000
. Cambridge University Press. p. 54.
ISBN
9780521522069
.
- ^
Bradley, Ian (2012).
Water: A Spiritual History
. Bloomsbury Publishing.
ISBN
9781441167675
.
- ^
Infoportal der Diakonie Deutschland (2018-01-01).
"Einrichtungsstatistik 2018"
[Statistics for Institutions 2018]
(PDF)
(in German). Diakonie Deutschland
. Retrieved
2020-02-04
.
- ^
Infoportal der Diakonie Osterreich (2018).
"Jahresbericht 2017"
[Annual report 2017]
(PDF)
(in German). Diakonie Osterreich
. Retrieved
2019-01-04
.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "
Deacons
".
Catholic Encyclopedia
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.