>>>A tribute in our Archdiocesan newspaper to our retiring diaconate director. Deacon Jim Swiler has led our program for many years and was the director for the length of my formation. Our deacon class (2008) will be the last class he directed all the way to ordination.
Many thanks Deacon Jim!
CLARION HERALD June 26, 2010 New Orleans
By Peter Finney Jr.
Deacon Jim Swiler has
made it a practice to show up
early for his liturgical assignments,
but in 1984 he never
expected what was about to
happen to him while preparing
for a visit of Mother
Teresa to New Orleans.
For 30 minutes in a small
room, Deacon Swiler and
the nun whose work with
the poor in Calcutta became
a symbol of Christian hope
and charity chatted about life
and faith while sitting next to
each other on a sofa.
“She asked me, ‘What do
deacons do?’” Deacon Swiler
said, referring to the still
relatively new restoration of
the permanent diaconate, an
outgrowth of the reforms of
the Second Vatican Council.
“So I talked to her about our
prison work and our mission
of charity. And then she told
me, ‘Well, we’re in the same
business.’”
Deacon Swiler regards that
opportunity to speak personally
with a future saint
as a lifetime highlight. He
was ordained in 1976, the
second class of permanent
deacons ordained by Archbishop
Philip Hannan, and
has served as the director of
the Office of the Permanent
Diaconate since 1978.
Thanks from Mother Teresa
Deacon Swiler said Mother
Teresa told him, “I need to
thank you for what you do.”
He replied that he needed to
thank her for her witness.
“Whenever you meet with
your deacons,” Mother Teresa
said, “tell them I said thanks
for what they do.”
Deacon Swiler has been
telling that story ever since.
Later this month, after 32
years as director of the permanent
diaconate, Deacon
Swiler will be “retiring” to
his post-Katrina home of
Thibodaux, La., where he will
serve in the part-time position
as chancellor of the Diocese
of Houma-Thibodaux.
“I didn’t want to retire
from ministry,” said Deacon
Swiler, who will be assigned
as a deacon to St. Joseph
Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux.
“The chancellor position is a
part-time position, and I still
will have time for other duties
as well.”
Challenge of Katrina
Deacon Swiler said he is
pleased with the accomplishments
of the permanent
diaconate, especially after so
many deacons had to overcome
personal challenges
following the devastation of
Hurricane Katrina.
The next class of permanent
deacons will be ordained
in December, but the
class size dropped from the
mid-20s to 10.
“That is the Katrina class,”
Deacon Swiler said. “We had
it in the 20s, and then we had
a one-year hiatus, and we lost
over half the group, along
with 27 (already ordained)
deacons. Katrina affected the
diaconate terribly.”
In the aftermath of Katrina,
Deacon Swiler said some
deacons who had lost their
homes “were living in cars
and tents and really hurting.”
Through a national appeal,
pallets of household goods
were collected to help hurting
deacons and their families
get back on their feet.
“We’re coming out of it,
but a lot of the men have
scars, especially those who
are relocated and who have
not really come to grips with
the fact that they’re not going
to come back,” Deacon Swiler
said. “We have deacons who
are living in Oregon, New
Jersey, Florida and Texas.”
Another deacon class of
about two dozen men is in
formation for ordination
in 2012, and candidates are
being screened for the 2014
class. Right now there are
about 190 active deacons in
the archdiocese.
Deacon Swiler is proudest
of the enhancements that
have been made over the last
30 years in the training and
formation of deacons. He was
part of a national committee
that revised the guidelines
for training, and the result
was the revised National
Directory on the Formation
and Ministry of Permanent
Deacons.
‘Point of light’
Deacon Swiler and his wife
Bonnie have traveled across
the country giving deacon
workshops, and they also
set up 33 support groups
throughout the archdiocese
to provide assistance to
military families during Operation
Desert Storm in 1991.
That program earned his
recognition by President
George H.W. Bush as a “point
of light” ambassador.
His all-time thrill came in
1987 when he was one of
two deacons – Deacon John
Williams was the other – assigned
to assist Pope John
Paul II with his outdoor Mass
at the University of New Orleans.
“The altar was made of
steel, and it actually was a
bunker to protect the Holy
Father in case of an attack,”
Deacon Swiler said. “They
told Deacon Williams and me
if anybody started shooting,
we were supposed to push
the pope in and follow him
in there.”
Thankfully, the Mass went
off without a hitch.
“Whenever people ask
about the sacrifices deacons
have to make, I still say it’s
the greatest thing that has
ever happened to my family
because my children are
close to the church,” Deacon
Swiler said. “They’ve met
bishops and they’re comfortable
with the church. It’s not
something at a distance. It’s
a great gift to the family.”
Deacon Raphael (Ray) Duplechain
will succeed Deacon
Swiler as executive director
of the permanent diaconate
office on July 1.
Peter Finney Jr. can be reached
at pfinney@clarionherald.org.
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