By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski's Key Note Address at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Miami-Dade County Pathways to Hope Conference. Friday, August 21, 2026 at the Little Haiti Cultural Arts Center in Miami, FL.
Faith and Kindness in a Challenging World
I am humbled to be asked to speak to this gathering sponsored by NAMI. NAMI is largest grass roots mental help support group in the US.
So, you know more than I do- but I would offer you some thoughts from a perspective of Faith. Faith is demonstrated through practical love, small everyday kindnesses, and compassionate living rather than words alone.
We still have the problem of widespread ignorance regarding mental illness and our response to it. If you are walking down the street and you have a heart attack or are hit by a bus, someone calls 911, the EMT’s come and take you to the hospital; if you have a mental health crisis, someone calls 911, the police come and take you to jail. Too often our jails are, by default, mental institutions. They’re not designed to be; and not surprisingly, they do not do a very good job at it. In Miami-Dade, things have improved because the police are being better trained now to deal with the mentally ill; and, finally, the Miami-Dade County Commission has approved funding for Judge Leitman’s project that will provide a better alternative than just cycling the mentally ill in and out of our jail.
But mental illness is still associated with shame – and we tend to shun the mentally ill because of that shame and because of our ignorance and fear. Those dealing physical illness and pain often can more easily endure their suffering than those dealing with a mental illness.
And just as physical illnesses have a variety of causes and are experienced with varying degrees of intensity and can be aggravated by a lot things in the environment, , so too can mental illness have a lot of causes and can be aggravated by a lot of things.
But mental illness is rarely cured – it is chronic condition, but it can be managed with proper treatment – and with proper support which would include medicines but also support from one’s family, friends, and community.
And that is what NAMI does.
And, you help to bring together bring together bio-medical scientists and doctors, psychologists, health care workers, psychologists, jurists, sociologists, pastors and others to harness our collective wisdom and experience to understand, treat, and care for the mentally ill who make up about one fifth of the human family. Science and faith, medicine and pastoral care, professional skill, and a sense of our common humanity share a task to garner adequate human, scientific and social economic resources to support and serve all those who find themselves in a condition of serious mental illness.
In preparing for this talk – since I recognize my own lack of knowledge, I did some reading and research.
St. John of God who himself was confined to a mental institution dedicated himself to the care of the poor but especially those suffering from mental illness. His spiritual sons, the brother Hospitallers of St. John of God serve at Camillus House.
But I also came across a theologian who offered the following reflection from St. Augustine who lived at the end of the third century. I’ll quote Dana Dillon in quoting St. Augustine because it shows that the Church has not been unfamiliar with caring for the mentally ill – from its earliest days. From the article, St. Augustine, Catholics, and Mental Illness, Dillon writes:
"In his City of God, in which (St. Augustine) covers and theologizes upon the whole of history as he knows it, he considers, briefly, the gift that is the human intellect. What a wondrous thing it is that we have been given the ability to know our world, our selves, and even, with the help of grace, our God! In the midst of this beautiful, celebratory passage, however, he interrupts himself to say this: ’Crazy people say and do many incongruous things, things for the most part alien to their intentions and their characters, certainly contrary to their good intentions and characters; and when we think about their words and actions, or see them with our eyes, we can scarcely -- or possibly we cannot at all -- restrain our tears, if we consider their situation as it deserves to be considered’.”
His tears are our tears – and tears of so many people throughout the ages. The article continues:
“When one's intellect is shattered by an illness like schizophrenia, complete with its hallucinations and delusions (not to mention countless less dramatic but no less debilitating symptoms), one cannot know the world, one's self, or one's God in the way one was meant to. And insofar as one cannot know well, one cannot act well. As Augustine puts it, one acts against one's own good intentions. There is such a deep tragedy in this lack of understanding and the lack of full freedom that follows upon it. But that is one thing that it seems the Catholic tradition has held onto well: the sense of mental illness as a tragic brokenness of a natural faculty.”
“Brokenness of a natural faculty” – not the result of some demon or curse.
Catholics have long considered the mentally ill to be among "the least of those" whom Christ calls us to care for as though they are Christ himself (Matthew 25:31-46). From its earliest days, Christianity was reaching out to the poor and marginalized, and the mentally ill have been among them. Whether in explicit service to those with mental health issues, or whether serving those who were poor, hungry, or homeless (all groups that ALWAYS include people with mental illness), the Catholic Church has a long tradition of service.
Catholics do not think mental illness should be solved by prayer rather than by psychiatry. We are a people of both/and! (Now that there are plenty of Catholics, like plenty of others, who don't seek help for other reasons; but generally, they not waiting for God to heal them.)
St. Ignatius said, "work like everything depends on you and pray like everything depends on God". Good spiritual advice – as far it goes. But that advice might seem to promise that if you stick to whatever medication, work your program, and pray, you ought to get better. So, if you are not getting better: are you lazy, or unfaithful? Of course not, but as I have already said and anyone who has paid much attention knows that mental illness is rarely cured but is a chronic illness that is more aptly described as "managed." And some people do incredibly well; others do not. This usually has much more to do with the severity of their illness than their work ethic or their faith in miracles. But it is very easy, especially for those who do not know that mental illness has real physiological bases, to assume that people with mental illnesses have those illnesses because they or their parents failed to work hard enough to develop the "good character" in accord with which they are tragically unable to act, as Augustine knew over 1700 years ago.
At our very best, we know that mental illness is a tragedy, one that afflicts those who did not choose it, and we serve and care for those so afflicted as we would care for Christ. But the range of mental illnesses and the variety of behavioral symptoms often make it hard for many of us not to judge those with mental illness as moral and/or spiritual failures. The stigma of that judgment, for many, ends up being as big an additional burden as the illness itself.
(Again, this is from Dana Dillon, a theologian who wrote the article that I borrowed from called: St. Augustine, Catholics and Mental Illness). And the end of the article, Dana says that educating ourselves about mental illness is a great place to start. Being courageous enough to talk about it is another. And then adds: NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is a great place to get some resources.
The Catholic Church urges individuals with mental illness symptoms to seek professional medical and psychological help. They are not possessed. Too often, people faced with their own mental illness or that of family members will think that it is due to the demonic. When they call us asking for exorcisms, we tell them to seek professional help. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Paragraph 1673) clearly outlines the boundary between medicine and spiritual intervention:
The Catechism distinguishes exorcism from psychological illness, noting that medical science should treat illnesses and that experts must rule out medical conditions before considering exorcism.
Also, the Church affirms that mental health struggles are not character defects, willpower failures, or deficits in faith. As the quote from St. Augustine 1700 years ago affirmed the sense of mental illness as a tragic brokenness of a natural faculty, not of some supernatural origin.
Pope St. John Paul II in addressing a Vatican symposium on Mental Health 30 years ago said:“…whoever suffers from mental illness ‘always’ bears God’s image and likeness, in himself, as does every human being. In addition, he ‘always’ has the inalienable right not only to be considered as an image of God and therefore as a person, but also to be treated as such…. Our actions must show that mental illness does not create insurmountable distances or prevent relations of true Christian charity with those who are its victims… (for they) are fully entitled to belong to the category of the poor to whom the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
Another source that I discovered in my research was the California Bishops' 2018 pastoral letter, "Hope and Healing,". They call for a compassionate, pastoral response to mental illness, urging the Church to eliminate stigma and provide welcoming, supportive environments. The document emphasizes that suffering individuals and their families should be met with solidarity, prayer, and practical support, viewing mental health care as an essential part of the Church’s mission to heal and accompany those in need.
The pastoral letters call for Stigma Reduction: people with mental health conditions and their families should never feel alone or ashamed.
They encourage a "both/and" approach combining medical, psychological, and pastoral care rather than choosing between faith and medicine.
And they explicitly discuss difficult modern issues like the opioid epidemic, addiction, and suicide rates.
They urge local church communities to actively reach out, listen to, and walk alongside individuals and families affected by mental illness.
It's worth a read – and you can assess just by googling: California bishops: Hope and Healing. It has challenged me to do more to have my own parishes to get involved in this pastoral ministry.
Physical health and well-being can be undermined by what we eat, whether we exercise or not. We see how obesity and our sedentary lifestyle have made America physically unhealthier over the years.
If America is less healthy physically, it is also less healthy mentally. We witness broken social bonds. We witness the tragedy of fatherless families and the social and economic difficulties that make it difficult for families to flourish or even to be formed. We witness veterans with PTSD.
We witness profoundly disturbed people in mass shootings.
We witness an epidemic of profound loneliness (among the elderly but also among young people.
Rising incidences of suicides, drug overdoses and alcohol dependence all take their toll on people’s mental health.
These crises resulting in "deaths of despair" highlight the interconnected issues aggravating the mental health of people today and underscore the necessity of a both/and approach to the challenge of addressing mental illness today.
I remember back in the 70’s there was a psychologist by the name of Carl Rogers. He said that for any counseling relationship to be successful, the counselor must have “unconditional positive regard” for his clients. The client will know, if because of prejudice or for some other reason, you lack this “unconditional positive regard.” In other words, t help people, you got to love them.
The mentally ill can be helped today by “miracle drugs” not available a generation or two ago. But the mentally ill also need love, a love that is unconditional positive regard for them, a love that affirms their dignity as made in the image and likeness of God, a love that embraces them as they are, a love that can say to them “I am glad that you are you”.
Let me end with a story. One day, a disheveled, apparently homeless man appeared at the door of the bishop’s office and said that he was Jesus Christ and demanded to see the bishop. His secretary went into the bishop’s office and said: there’s a man outside, he’s doesn’t look to be in his right mind and he wants to see you because he says he is Jesus Christ. Should I call the police? she asked.
No, the bishop replied. But we better look busy.
We have to see Jesus in everybody, even those who might be consider the least of his brethren. Get busy.
