As the ongoing mental health crisis presents a significant pastoral challenge for the Church, US Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix calls for true support for people, rather than oversimplifications or quick solutions.
By Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik & Karol Darmoros
Bishop John Dolan draws attention to the suffering of families living with mental illness or mourning the suicide of a loved one.
“Families are having to endure when they lose a loved one by suicide, or they’re losing a person before their very eyes as they see them struggling with their mental health-related issues,” said the Bishop of Phoenix, Arizona.
In such situations, relatives often feel helpless in the face of conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and, despite their love, do not know how to respond.
This vulnerability, Bishop Dolan noted, can lead to the temptation of overly simple answers. “Sometimes the answer is to try to find a quick fix,” he said.
Yet, neither a purely religious approach nor a strictly medical one is sufficient. “Telling someone simply to get back to Church won’t necessarily do it. And getting someone to a psychiatrist is a good place to start, but that isn’t enough either,” he explained, warning against offering “golden advice” to people in crisis.
Faith and science
According to Bishop Dolan, mental health ministry must address the whole person. “In mental health ministry, you want to do all of it. All of the above,” he said, pointing to the need for both pastoral care and professional support.
“Invite them to the place of Church, and at the same time encourage them to go to counselors or psychiatrists or psychologists,” he said.
The Bishop also firmly rejected any opposition between faith and science. “We don’t want to compete. We want to go down the same road together, faith and science,” Bishop Dolan said, stressing that psychiatry and psychology are not a threat to faith. “God gave us the wonderful gift of science… psychiatry and psychology, we believe, are a gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Accompaniment on the peripheries
Explaining the meaning of his episcopal motto, “Abide in my love,” Bishop Dolan referred to the symbolism of the heart, which sends blood to the body’s peripheries.
The same applies to the mental health ministry. “Mental health ministry is reaching out to the peripheries… to the wider body of Christ and into the world,” he observed.
The essence of this ministry is not to “fix” someone but to offer presence. “We do not diagnose, prescribe, or treat, but we do accompany,” he said.
He emphasized that this ministry is not a pastoral program or strategy. “It is, above all, an act of love that comes from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
Three key areas of action
Bishop Dolan identified three concrete priorities shaping mental health ministry in the Diocese of Phoenix.
The first is education, particularly training clergy in mental health first aid. This helps pastors and deacons recognize the signs of crisis and respond with greater understanding.
The second area is advocacy and presence in especially vulnerable settings, including prisons. The diocese is developing accompaniment and peer-support programs there. “There’s kind of a peer-to-peer accompaniment in prison,” the bishop explained, highlighting the importance of relationships even in isolation.
The third priority involves systemic action. In Maricopa County, Arizona, the number of beds for patients experiencing a mental health crisis has been doubled. “We went from 350 to 600 beds. We need more, but it was an expensive venture—and a needed one,” Bishop Dolan said.
Formation and hope
Mental health ministry also extends to priestly formation. “We use mental health ministry in our seminary so that they see mental health is not something we shy away from, but something we embrace,” Bishop Dolan emphasized.
The goal, he concluded, is deeper self-knowledge and growth rooted in the awareness of being beloved children of God.