1. The campaign to invite men to discern a vocation to the permanent diaconate for the 2031 PDFP Cohort begins February 2, 2026, and will end no later than November 2026.  This webpage is designed to assist applicants with the application process to the Pre-Aspirancy Phase of the Program.  Acceptance to Pre-Aspirancy does not guarantee the applicant will continue into the four years of the program that will follow, as the journey is hallmarked by prayer and discernment – both by the discerning man and the Church.  You are encouraged to submit your applications as early as possible in the application window.

2. Pre-Aspirancy Information and Discernment Sessions will be held at five separate parishes within the Diocese.  These will take place during the months of May and June of 2026.  The dates, times and locations for the Sessions are being negotiated with the Diocesan Deaneries and will be published on this webpage once secured and through other social media platforms.  They will also be shared with the individual parishes.  Applicants must attend at least one of these sessions.  If individual discernment timelines do not allow attendance at one of these sessions, the applicant should reach out to the Director for the Diaconate to identify a makeup session opportunity.  Please continue to monitor this site.  The Pre-Aspirancy application process will include an application, the aforementioned information session, completion of a psychological assessment and criminal background investigation (CBI), and other specified documents (especially your Baptismal Certificate reflecting when you received each of the Sacraments.  You and your spouse will also be interviewed separately by a panel.

   1. Step by Step: First complete the application to Pre-Aspirancy, Information from Applicant’s wife and the CBI form to be uploaded to our website.  Next download the form for release of confidential information.  Please scan in the completed form for uploading to our website.  As a part of the application process, you will provide a personal narrative that describes your life with an emphasis on your faith journey.  Please create a separate document and upload the file as a PDF as a part of your application.  There is not a specified format for this.  If you do not have a scanner or have trouble uploading your files, you can mail or hand deliver your application directly to the Director of Diaconate Formation, 228 N. Cascade Ave, Colorado Springs CO, 80903.

   2. Additionally, you will need to provide three letters of recommendation.  One each from:  your pastor, a fellow parishioner (can be a deacon) and a colleague/close friend.  Submit these in a sealed envelope via mail or drop them off during business hours to: Director of Diaconate Formation, 228 N. Cascade, Colorado Springs, CO 80903.

   3. You will need to provide an original baptismal certificate dated not more than six months from your application submission.  It should reflect your sacraments (baptism, first holy communion, confirmation, & marriage).  Once you complete the above, the Pre-Aspirancy Review Committee will review your package and schedule you and your spouse for interviews.  You will be notified after this as to whether you have been accepted into the program or not.

3. Pre-Aspirancy is a 6-month inquiry period, which begins not later January 2027 and completes in June of 2027.  It includes exposure to Sacred Scripture, online catechetical training, sessions on prayer and discernment, spiritual development, a monthly cohort communal meeting, and a Kerygma & Discernment Retreat.  During your Pre-Aspirancy Year, if you discern that you are being led to continue in the formation program, you will be asked to make a formal petition to Aspirancy.

4. The Aspirancy year (propaedeutic year) begins in August 2027.  The single Aspirancy year and three Candidacy years will involve intellectual, liturgical, and pastoral care classes which will take place the first weekend of each month.  The Aspirancy year involves making the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola with a spiritual director assigned to you to accompany you on your formation journey, as well as additional Biblical and catechetical studies.  Towards the end of the Aspirancy phase, you will have an interview and the Diocesan Committee on Admission will review your records for consideration for your entrance into the Candidacy Phase.

5. The Candidacy Phase begins at a Mass on the 1st Saturday of August 2028.  At this time, you will begin a more rigorous course of academic studies as you continue your discernment journey.  The three years of Candidacy will also include intellectual, liturgical, spiritual, human, and pastoral formation.  The pastoral care formation will involve supervised pastoral care practicums and exposures in four areas of service: Communion to the elderly and homebound, charity towards the abject poor, hospital ministry, and prison ministry.  You will also be given Homiletics training and be provided the opportunity to practice giving reflections and homilies, as well as supervised practice leading sacramental rites.

6. Ordination comes on the heels of the third year of Candidacy.  It will be preceded by a canonically required pre-ordination retreat and a thorough review of your readiness to receive Holy Orders.  Ordination will occur in the late spring of 2031.

Traditionally, the beginning of the order of deacons traces back to the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 6:1-6.  Early in the history of the church, deacons held a special place in the community, along with bishops and presbyters.  The permanent diaconate played a substantial role in the early Church but beginning in the fifth century, there was a gradual decline in the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church.  By the end of the first millennium, the diaconate had lost its permanency, and the Church recognized it as a transitional step for men seeking ordination to the priesthood.  The Council of Trent (1545 - 1563) called for the restoration of the permanent diaconate, leaving the decision to successive popes to implement.  None saw fit to do so until Pope Paul VI, who officially re-established the permanent diaconate on June 18, 1967, with the apostolic letter Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem (“The Sacred Order of the Diaconate”).  This decision implemented the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council to restore the permanent diaconate as a distinct and permanent rank in the church's Holy Orders.

All ordained ministries are modeled on the life of Christ, and deacons are sacramentally configured to Christ the servant.   The Permanent Deacon has a three-fold ministry:

• The ministry of word calls the deacon to be evangelizer and teacher.  Not only is he called to teach and evangelize in the traditional sense as instructor and preacher, but he also takes the spirit and message of Jesus to the public arena through his generous sharing of time and talent and his concern for those around him, especially the poor.  These activities engage the deacon in "New Evangelization" in a most profound and meaningful way.

• The ministry of liturgy calls the deacon to assist at the altar, to distribute the Eucharist – especially as an ordinary minister of the Cup, to administer baptisms, to witness weddings, to preside at funerals, to administer Viaticum to the sick, and to preside at other rites and celebrations as appropriate.  A vibrant diaconate enhances and expands the ministry of both the presbyterate and the episcopate.

• The ministry of charity calls the deacon to not only serve those in need, but also to defend and act as a voice for all those who are poor, marginalized, and defenseless, those who are victims, those who are ignored or despised by society.  To quote Pope John Paul II, "This is at the very heart of the Diaconate to which you have been called: to be servant of the mysteries of Christ and, at the same time to be servant of your brothers and sisters..."  Although the deacon's service begins at the altar and returns there, "the deacons' service in the ministry of word and liturgy would be severely deficient if his exemplary witness and assistance in the Church's ministry of charity and justice did not accompany it."

Certain situations or conditions may constitute an impediment to orders.  Impediments that are perpetual are termed irregularities.  These may be past sins or delicts, and if so, they make one irregular for holy orders even though the Sacrament of Reconciliation may have granted forgiveness: forgiveness of the sin does not include dispensation from the irregularity.

To be accepted for ordination requires that any irregularities be dispensed.  This is in effect a request that the Church accept the individual for ordination despite the irregularity.

Should you have questions about the process of receiving dispensation from an irregularity that might have a bearing on your ability to receive Holy Orders, please contact the Director of the Permanent Diaconate.  We ask that you not identify the irregularity nor divulge the details of the matter to the Director, or to anyone else, so as to preserve your options to address the matter through the internal forum.

Regarding the internal forum, an act that makes one irregular could be something secret and therefore it is best that it be resolved in the internal forum, thereby protecting the sanctity of one’s conscience and one’s good name.  In this way, it is important to understand that one who is conscious of laboring under an irregularity may approach a confessor or spiritual director (priest) and ask this confessor or spiritual director to make recourse on his behalf to the appropriate authority: the Apostolic Penitentiary in the case of an irregularity reserved to the Apostolic See; or the local Ordinary (or the priest delegated by him to deal with these matters) in the case of an irregularity not reserved to the Apostolic See.  Such interactions are protected by the seal of the confessional and/or the relationship between a priest spiritual director and the applicant.

Please read the attached document for a complete description of Irregularities and Impediments to Holy Orders and how to address an irregularity or impediment through the internal or external forum.

Residency: A Candidate must be a resident of the diocese or be determined to devote himself to the Diocese of Colorado Springs.  Candidates must have a history as a registered member of a parish for three years or be affiliated with a Catholic institution within the diocese.  If new to the diocese, letters of reference from his previous diocese are required.

Commitment: Willing to make a lifetime commitment to ministry in the Catholic Church and community.  Able and willing to commit the required time to all aspects of the formation program (see formation commitment below).

Marital Status: If married, minimum of five years of marriage and have a stable family life.  The marriage should represent a living example of the sacrament of matrimony.  The marriage must be a valid marriage recognized by the Catholic Church.  If any annulments are required for the applicant or their spouse, they must be obtained prior to applying.  Spouse must support the applicant’s interest in the diaconate.  The spouse must be willing to be involved in stated aspects of the screening and formation processes.  If there are children in the home, they must also be considered.  If single, the applicant must be committed to the single life and willing to maintain celibacy after ordination.  If married, and an unfortunate circumstance arises where the spouse predeceases the ordained deacon, he must be willing to not remarry and remain celibate.

Community: Applicant should be an active member of his parish community.  He should be able to demonstrate a commitment to service, especially in areas of Church ministries.

Education: Completion of high school or GED, also the ability to perform academically at the college level for courses required in the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program.

Spirituality: Deacons must develop a consistent prayer life that includes private and public prayer.  Applicants should nurture their prayer life with spiritual reading.

Standing: Applicant must be in good standing in the Church, having been fully initiated (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation) and must have been a Catholic for a minimum of five years.

Support: Applicant’s application must be supported in writing by his wife and pastor.

Age: Minimum age of 30 at the beginning of formation, with an ideal not-to-exceed age of 58 at the start of formation (will be considered on a case-by-case basis based upon the applicant’s life circumstances).

Citizenship: Applicant must be a citizen of the United States of America or have valid immigration status.

Employment: Applicant will need to provide his employment history, including military service history.

Criminal History: Applicant must be without a criminal record.

Health Status: Applicant must be of sufficient mental and physical health to complete the formation program and serve as a permanent deacon upon ordination within established expectations.

Language Skills: Applicant must be able to read, write, speak, and comprehend the English language.

Balance: Applicant must be able to demonstrate the ability to maintain a proper life balance (family life, work life, formation, and spiritual growth).

Formation Commitment: Applicant must be capable of committing to one Saturday per month (Pre-Aspirancy) followed by one weekend per month – Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday (Aspirancy and Candidacy) and to requirements for necessary studies and ministerial work.  In general, a minimum of six to nine hours per week will be necessary for studies and ministerial work.  Also, the applicant must be able to commit to being present at all required classes, days of reflection, ministry participation, and retreats throughout formation, unless employment, a family emergency or illness prevents such attendance.