Understanding spirituality development differences

between permanent deacons and their spouses

by Deacon Ron Rojas

It seems that the most common approach in developing spirituality for permanent deacons and their spouses has been to offer clergy focused programs for the deacons and simply extend an invitation to the spouses. This approach, although proven effective for the deacons, has recently raised some concerns regarding its long-term value for the spiritual nurturing of the spouses as unique collaborators of their husband's vocation. One area of particular concern is the spiritual growth of the couple, which under the current methodology, favors the permanent deacons but may be less than optimal for the spouses. Specifically, it seems that many dioceses lack forums capable of proactively addressing the unique issues related to married clergy within the Catholic Church.

Although differences in spiritual needs between the deacons and their spouses may be intuitively obvious, in reality there have been very few studies presenting any evidence that there would be, in fact, significant differences warranting any amount of diocesan resources to study and sustain a proactive approach towards this issue. However, a formal research project for a doctoral dissertation conducted over a two-year period (2001-2002) with the purpose of validating a spirituality measurement scale¹, may offer some insight into some of the similarities and differences between the developing spirituality needs of permanent deacons and their spouses.

A word of caution at this point: I don't mean to get technical with the theory and statistics involved, but some background discussion is necessary to understand the source of the data as well as the credibility of the findings. So, my apologies if it gets a little bit too technical.

The purpose of the dissertation mentioned above was to develop a spirituality measurement scale called the Independent Spirituality Assessment Scale ©, a 39 item scale which defines and measures spirituality as a composite index of relationships with Self, Others and Spiritual subjects. With respect to relationships with "Self", the instrument focuses on measuring personality developmental processes such as fulfillment of self, self-determination, self-control, discovery of self and enrichment of self. These personality development processes have already been described in the academic literature as key components of spirituality. Similarly, the instrument measures personal relational activity with partners, small groups, and in larger organizations (communities) as the second component of spirituality (relationships with Others). Finally, this instrument measures spirituality along the strength of relationships with spiritual subjects (such as God, the Blessed Mother, saints, etc.) as a third component. Once relational activity is assessed in each of these three areas, spirituality is then calculated as the sum of relational activities.

This spirituality scale takes an anatomical perspective of spirituality (it looks at the relational anatomy of spirituality), and has demonstrated the ability to measure across many approaches to spirituality (e.g., Jesuit, Franciscan, Marian, etc.) regardless of theological, historical or methodological content. According to the results presented in this dissertation, the measurement scale met its validity and reliability objectives².

A peculiar circumstance of this study serves the purpose of this article. Approximately 1,230 deacons and spouses from Austin (Texas), Atlanta (Georgia), New Orleans (Louisiana), St. Louis (Missouri), Miami, Orlando and St Petersburg (Florida) were invited to participate. From this population, 410 usable responses were received. This sample was made up of 272 deacons and 138 spouses. It is from this very same sample that an analysis of spirituality between deacons and spouses can be achieved.

A statistical analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences in the average scores between both groups (deacons and spouses). The average score for the deacons was 152.5, and 142.4 for the spouses. In comparing overall scores of relationships with Self, relationships with Others (partnerships, small groups, organizations) and relationships with spiritual subjects (such as God, Blessed Mother, saints, etc.), there were only minor differences when looking at relationships with Others and relationships with Spiritual subjects. There were, however, significant differences in scores when comparing relationships with "Self".

With respect to "fulfillment of self", "self-control" and "enrichment of self", deacons showed statistically higher scores that the scores of the spouses. On the other hand, the spouses scored higher than the permanent deacons on the item "I spend time reflecting on ways to become a better person". Not surprisingly, the item with the smallest difference between scores was related to spirituality as a function of partnerships, a good indication of how significant the spousal relationship is to the deacon's spirituality development and vice-versa.

Some other facts from this study on spirituality are also worth presenting. The strongest single indicator of spirituality for the deacons was statement number 20 of the assessment scale ("I have been successful in aligning my day to day activities with my personal philosophy of life"). On the other hand, the strongest indicator of spirituality for the spouses was statement 21 ("There is an organization's mission that is compatible with my spirituality"). Deacons scored higher when asked if they considered themselves as "change agents" of society. They also scored higher when asked if they could "adapt to adverse situations". Yet spouses scored higher in their ability to reach depths of spirituality for which they considered themselves truly "transformed". These results suggest that spirituality for the deacons may be associated more with the development of intrapersonal relations (Self), while spirituality for the spouses is more associated with interpersonal relations (Others).

Overall, there was evidence in this study of significant differences between deacon and spouses in 15 of 39 items addressed in the spirituality assessment scale, strong empirical clue that although both groups clearly share common areas of spiritual growth, there are also notable differences between the groups. Of particular significance is the evidence that relationships with "Self" were the strongest indicator of spirituality scores for deacons, whereas spirituality for the spouses seemed to be best measured by the intensity of interpersonal activities. The findings of this study offer some evidence to suggest that, although spirituality development may have a common denominator for both groups, it also true that spirituality development for each group may also require a complementary approach.

As with any research, certain cautions are warranted. First of all, it is too early in the research process to establish any of the main causes of these results, or to determine if the current approaches to spirituality development of married clergy within the Catholic Church are widening or narrowing this measurable gap between groups. It is also relevant to note that these results are preliminary, since they represent the results of volunteer deacons and spouses from only five states. Next, since the data was generated in the United States, cultural and social biases must be carefully assessed, since these factors have been known to affect spirituality. There is also an intense debate among researchers and theoreticians across multiple disciplines questioning the feasibility of measuring such an elusive subject (spirituality). The above mentioned dissertation took the position that just like various modes of intelligence can be measures (e.g. Intelligence Quotient as IQ, Emotional Quotient as EQ), spirituality can also be measured as a type of intelligence³. Finally, since the responses to the spirituality scale were anonymous, a direct correlation between a deacon and his spouse was not possible for this study. Such an analysis could have offered an additional perspective of the role of the spouses' spiritual maturity in the deacons' spirituality development. In reality, a diocesan level survey of deacons and spouses would be the preferred method to canvas and assess local diocesan needs.

Despite these constraints, it can be inferred that although deacons and spouses have many common denominators related to their spiritual growth, there also seems to be significant differences, particularly in developmental approaches. These findings suggest we do not underestimate the contribution of the spouses to the deacon's spiritual development and active ministry, and that we consider adopting a more proactive approach in attempting to capture, understand and address some of the issues of married clergy in the Catholic Church. Based on these findings, directors of diocesan programs, formation professionals, spiritual directors, and even every permanent deacon are advised to continue nurturing diaconate spirituality through traditional ways while also fostering options that nurture the spiritual needs of the spouses.¨

Ron Rojas is a deacon serving at St. Paul Parish, Tampa, Florida and has a doctorate degree in Management and Spirituality. He can be reached at http://www.prismleadership.com

References and notes:

(1) Rojas, R. (2002). "Management theory and spirituality: A framework and validation of the independent spirituality assessment scale" (to be published shortly in Dissertation Abstracts International, http://www.umi.com).

(2) Internal Reliability of the instrument (homogeneity) was 0.91; validity was established by different three methods.

(3) McGeachy, C. (2002). Spiritual intelligence in the workplace. Veritas Publications: Dublin, Ireland.

Copyright 2002, Ronald R. Rojas