The Oscott programme for the formation of permanent deacons began in September 2005 and is still developing. It is a four year programme open to candidates from the Archdiocese of Birmingham and any neighbouring dioceses who wish to participate. The programme currently has students from Birmingham and Shrewsbury in formation. Building on the tradition of priestly formation at Oscott, the diaconate programme places the seminary resources at the service of developing the permanent diaconate in England and Wales and creates a diaconal formation community within the seminary community. The Oscott programme is designed to promote a renewed vision of the permanent diaconate through a curriculum based on the specific intellectual, spiritual, pastoral and human needs of the deacon today.

Students for the permanent diaconate at Oscott follow a four year programme which combines elements of distance learning and part time study. They are expected to attend eleven formation meetings at Oscott during the year alongside spiritual direction, private study, human formation and pastoral experience, all of which take place within their own diocese. In developing this programme we have followed the 1998 Vatican Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons and the provisional Directory for the Formation of Permanent Deacons issued by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in 2003 (DFPDEW). There are also canonical norms which govern the permanent diaconate, as given in the Code of Canon Law (nn. 1008-154) and the theological tradition of the Church in relation to deacons is summed up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC1554).