Diaconal categories and clerical celibacy

My article on "Diaconal categories and clerical celibacy", has just appeared in Chicago Studies 49 (2010) 110-116. In it I question the rationale and ultimate sustainability of treating the diaconate as, in effect, two distinct categories (so-called "transitional" and "permanent"), the implications of this recent bifurcation for Western clerical celibacy (1983 CIC 277), and conclude with some suggestions for recovering our appreciation of the essential unity of the diaconate.

Here's hoping folks find it useful.