Katie Foundation honors daughter

MADISON  Ministers in the Church have a special role when called to reach out to people trapped in the “dark tunnel” of pain and despair caused by mental illness: help them heal spiritually. They can do this by bringing these suffering persons the “light of Christ” and helping to fill them with hope in the truth that God and his Church love them and are ready to accompany them on their difficult journey.

That’s what Deacon Ed Shoener, founder of the Katie Foundation: Shining Light on Mental Illness, told a group of 30 priests, deacons and lay ministers in the Diocese during a “Mind and Spirit” workshop, sponsored by St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization here Sept. 28. Tragically, Deacon Shoener speaks from experience: he and his wife, Ruth, lost their only daughter, Katie, 29, who suffered for more than a decade with bipolar disorder, to suicide on Aug. 3, 2015. He wrote an obituary about the life of Katie, the foundation’s namesake, and the fact that “mental illness is a sickness, not a moral failing” — a sentiment that touched people around the world via the Internet.

During a two-hour Zoom videoconference, Deacon Shoener of the Diocese of Scranton, Pa., equipped ministers with an understanding of the challenges that mentally ill people face, how to care for them lovingly, help them deepen their spiritual lives and the need to develop mental health ministries.

“We ministers of the Church are not clinicians. Instead, Christ calls us to do something that the clinicians cannot do: be Church to them. We are to minister to them with love, compassion, patience and persistence. We need to give them a place to belong. We need to ask, ‘Where is God in their suffering.’ We must meet them where they are,” said Deacon Shoener, who also noted that many people live productive lives with successful treatment. “We also need to integrate mental health into the Church. We must speak up and lead the way,” he said.

Dioceses and individual parishes should develop a faith-based mental health ministry. It would accompany people with mental illness in their journey as they experience God without directly implementing any psychological interventions. The ministry can provide spiritual and social support, helping people gain a renewed sense of meaning and purpose, a feeling of being grounded in the faith or other spiritual practice and increased social connections.

Dioceses and parishes should be welcoming people who are mentally ill into the liturgy by offering special Masses and devotions and Prayers of the Faithful and homilies at Mass. Ministers should become familiar with their area’s mental health resources and take the Mental Health First Aid course, a national program to teach the skills to respond to the signs of mental illness and substance use, Deacon Shoener said.

He also established the Katie Foundation in honor of his late daughter to increase awareness of mental illness and support better treatment and research for cures. It partners with the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Behavioral Health Initiative located in Scranton.

The Church’s attitude and teachings about mental illness and suicide have improved over the years. Today, the Catechism of the Catholic Church contains a section on suicide that gives “helpful and consoling guidance.”

“Understand that you can’t pray your way out of mental illness, although there have been miracles. That’s why God sends us doctors. Minister to them in love without the demand that they will be cured,” said Deacon Shoener.

When ministering to mentally ill people, ministers need to realize what they “can and can’t do.” They need to call local mental-health services during an emergency: if a person says he wants to hurt himself or another person, if he has a plan to do it or if he is becoming “aggressive or not ‘redirectable,’ ” Deacon Shoener said.

He took questions and comments from participants including Father Pawel Tomcyzk, diocesan director for campus ministry, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and youth ministry at St. Paul’s. He said, “People with mental illness can find reconciliation first in the sacrament of Penance.”

After the presentation, Brian Honsberger, St. Paul’s director of programs and operations, admitted that many in ministry “feel unequipped to minister to people with mental illness.” After having a few experiences ministering to people with mental illness, St. Paul’s staff contacted the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers, which recommended Deacon Shoener, its president, as a presenter.

“Deacon, sharing your story has motivated us to be more empathetic and show people with mental illness the dignity they deserve,” said Honsberger, who noted that St. Paul’s plans to consider how to address the mental health issue on the diocesan level going forward.