In the Roman Catholic church, a transitional deacon is a man under a vow of celibacy who has been ordained a deacon and who intends to become a priest. For several centuries, all Roman Catholic deacons were in this transitional stage between layman and priest. The role of permanent deacon, usually a married man under a vow never to remarry after ordination if his wife predeceases him, was revived after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
