Fr John Michael Hanvey’s letter (3 January) condemning the permanent diaconate as “irrelevant” and “ineffective” seems to be quite ignorant of the various ways in which diaconate is exercised in the Church. I can’t speak for the English experience, but I know that, at least in Australia, deacons are involved in ministries including work with indigenous people and in schools, as chaplains in the military and in hospitals, among damaged veterans, police and prisoners, and with disability support organisations. Our ordination as deacons frees us to work with people on the margins of society or church, using our life experience, formation, and the graces of our ordination to serve people as Christ would have, with humility. (Deacon) Jim Curtain, Beaumaris,