Carolina Bellocq
Permanent deacon Ed Shoener became familiar with the reality of mental health through his family. In 2016, his daughter Katie died by suicide. She had bipolar disorder and lost her battle with the illness. He wrote her obituary and was surprised by the impact it had.
DCN. ED SHOENER
Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers
Much to my amazment that obiturary went viral and I heard from tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world saying that the church needs to responde better to this. So I joined with other people that were interested in this and we formed this association. Um, 8 years ago.
Today, that organization has about 9,000 members from more than 70 countries. It works to combat the stigma surrounding mental health by promoting compassion and understanding. It offers a variety of resources to help people learn more and provide closer support.
DCN. ED SHOENER
Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers
I am sure that Christ himself ministered to many people that have mental health issues and mental health illness. So, in some ways mental health ministry is nothing new in the church in some ways, but this ministry that we are developing now is more focused on more open, and I think that it is an issue that the times call for.
This October, in conjunction with the Pope’s worldwide prayer intention, this association brought many of its members together in Rome.
It was also the time to launch two new courses. One focuses on mental health training, and the other covers “first aid” in this field. Both are free and available online.
Schoener and his team's goal is for people who are suffering from these causes to find comfort in the Church.
DCN. ED SHOENER
Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers
I mean we have a ways to go, but my hope would be, that the church, one day would be the place where if someone is facing a mental health challenge or a mental illness, the catholic church would be the first place they would think to go. That the church understands it, gets it, and has the ability to support them and guide them. That would be a beautiful thing to have happen, we'll get there at some point, someday.
In his view, some countries have made great strides in this area, and, for example, in the United States there is a high level of awareness and a great deal of work has been done.
This Ukrainian-American bishop is one of the coordinators of the national campaign.
MONS. BORYS GUDZIAK
Ukrainian Eparchy of Philadelphia, U.S.
The United States Confrence of Catholic Bishops launched a mental health awareness campaign, and prayer is a central aspect of that campaign. There is a Novena. Each day is comitted to a different issue of mental helth taboos.
Thanks to these and many other initiatives, awareness of mental health and support is growing worldwide.
