By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist Even though the ranks of the priesthood have been declining in many parts of the world, the number of permanent deacons has been expanding almost 30 times faster than the priesthood since the year 2000, resulting in an estimated 40 percent of U.S. parishes now being run by a deacon rather than an ordained priest. According to a report by the Religion News Service (RNS), permanent deacons in the U.S. have grown from seven in 1971 to an estimated 17,000 in 2010. They are being relied upon more and more often as the ranks of the priesthood continue to decline – down from 59,000 in 1975 to 40,600 in 2009 - while the Catholic population, which currently stands at 65 million, continues to grow. This trend has left thousands of U.S. parishes without a resident priest.  As a result, more than 40 percent of U.S. diocese entrust deacons with pastoral care of one or more parishes where they typically perform tasks that once belonged to priests, such as celebrating marriages and baptisms, preaching the Gospel and running the parish. In diocese where the priest shortage is particularly acute, a rotation of priests will celebrate Mass or hear confessions at these parishes.  “With the decrease in vocations to the priesthood that we experienced in the 1970s and ‘80s, we now have a dip in the number of priests,” said the Rev. David Toups, interim director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “By God’s grace, deacons have been there to literally stand in the gap.” Permanent deacons must be male, at least 35 in most dioceses, and spend three to four years intensely studying church history, moral theology, Scripture, canon law, liturgy and other subjects, RNS reports. As recipients of one of the three levels of ordination in the Roman Catholic Church, permanent deacons can perform almost all the sacraments, except celebrate the Eucharist, absolve penitents and anoint the sick. © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com