Pastoral Care

“Our world is experiencing a mental health crisis. Anxiety and depression weigh heavily on the lives of many people – often those people are youth and young adults. There is hope.” 

                                                                                       James D. Conley, Bishop of Lincoln, May 2024
 
The Office of Pastoral Life will host a retreat day for clergy, staff and ministry volunteers

• To increase our understanding and awareness of mental illness
• To pray together and reflect on our experiences of how mental illness impacts those who serve and those we serve in various parish ministry settings;
• To recognize the signs and symptoms of anxiety & depression; and prioritize self-care;
• To consider ways to reduce the stigma and models for how parishes can walk with people with mental illness and their families who feel isolated and alone.  

   Speaker: Deacon Ed Schoener from the Diocese of Scranton
 
   President and Co-Founder of the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers

   Ed Shoener was ordained a permanent deacon in 2004 and serves at St.        Peter’s Cathedral 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.  
 
Deacon Shoener, along with Bishop John Dolan, is coauthor of the books Responding to Suicide: A Pastoral Handbook for Catholic Leaders and When a Loved One Dies by Suicide (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN).
 
He, along with family and friends, founded “The Katie Foundation” after his daughter, Kathleen, died by suicide in 2016. Katie’s obituary went viral because it spoke to the needs and concerns of people who live with mental illness. He lives with his family in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

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American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Grief Speaks

Samaritan's Hope - Offering Care to Suicide Loss Survivors

You Can NOT Be Replaced

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