News - May 2022

Fr. Joan Gilabert Jofré saved a mentally ill man from bullies and went on to found the "Hospital of the Innocents."

To the casual observer, everything is just fine with Margaret. She’s intelligent, energetic and charming. Colleagues notice that she has an edge at times, but who doesn’t? Yet those people very close to Margaret experience far more than an edge. They experience sudden rage, hostility, accusations and demands that make it very difficult to stay nearby. Quite ironically, however, people remaining close to her is exactly what Margaret wants.

lts from Springtide Research Institute show how faith leaders can make a difference.

Elena Zuniga didn’t go searching for the patron saint of anxiety, depression and mental illness, but St. Dymphna found her anyway. First, a small St. Dymphna charm showed up in her jewelry box without explanation. Then a St. Dymphna prayer card fell out of a book she happened to pick up. And after showing up one morning in 2019 for a meeting about a new mental health ministry at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Yorba Linda, Zuniga soon found herself serving as one of two co-leaders of St. Dymphna’s Disciples — a group that works to reduce stigma around mental illness in the church and supports those in mental distress.

CATHCA launches project aimed to address mental health issues. Mental health problems are at a crisis point in South Africa, with those affected facing stigma and even social exclusion — which leads 73% to not seek help. Dr Melese Shula of the Catholic Health Care Association explains the problem, Public knowledge of one’s mental illness can result in social exclusion, which can create a tumbling block for seeking support. In many cases, that exclusion as well as lack of support and treatment can lead to suicide. The mental health crisis gets worse because many people don’t even know where to go to get help, or are too scared to seek it.

In Italian: https://www.vaticannews.va/it/mondo/news/2022-04/ucraina-moldavia-sostegno-psicologico-guerra.html In Romanian: https://www.vaticannews.va/ro/biserica/news/2022-04/republica-moldova-preot-pertru-ciobanu-caritas-refugiati.html

May 5, 2022 - Deacon Ed Shoener was ordained a permanent deacon in 2004 and serves at St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Diocese of Scranton. Shoener is a founding member of the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers and the Catholic Institute of Mental Health Ministry at the University of San Diego.

Since 1949, the month of May has been observed as Mental Health Awareness Month in the U.S. The tradition was started by the National Association for Mental Health (since renamed the Mental Health Association) and is marked by outreach efforts, media campaigns, and greater attention to mental-health resources.