Action for Mental Health is an “Urgent Pastoral Challenge” for the Global Church
USCCB resources to promote education and awareness are accompanied by a call to prayer and action through a Novena for Mental Health.
WASHINGTON – World Mental Health Day is observed each year on October 10. This year, the Holy See’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development issued a message recognizing mental health as an “urgent pastoral challenge,” and invited the Church to engage with people struggling with their mental health. In his monthly prayer intention, Pope Leo XIV prayed for mental health ministry to be established throughout the Church and encouraged overcoming the stigma and discrimination often shown towards people with mental illnesses.
Each October, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) renews its commitment to a pastoral response to the mental health crisis in the United States through its National Catholic Mental Health Campaign. Resources to promote education and awareness are accompanied by a call to prayer and action through a Novena for Mental Health that runs from October 10-18. The novena is an invitation for parishes to participate in Mental Health Sunday on October 11 and encourages local groups interested in forming a mental health ministry to go to usccb.org/mentalhealth, as well as the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers and Catholic Charities USA.
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