Travelling to the Ministry of Hope Conference, in Rome

On the 5th November 2025 I travelled with John Friel C.P., Mary Torney and Julie Lusk to Rome. All of us are connected to the ministry of supporting people with mental health issues. Each of us were invited to participate in an international conference focusing on Mental Health in the Church.

The Ministry of Hope conference brought together Church leaders, professionals, and pastoral workers from around the world to strengthen the Catholic Church’s pastoral engagement with mental wellbeing.

The three-day international event, organized with the support of the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers and under the patronage of the Pontifical Academy for Life, aimed to foster listening, reflection, and collaboration among those accompanying individuals and communities facing psychological, social, and spiritual distress.

Against a backdrop of war, displacement, inequality, and social fragmentation, the conference sought to deepen the Church’s understanding of how faith, community, and informed pastoral care can nurture healing and resilience.

The forum emphasized that pastoral ministry must be both compassionate and prepared grounded in human closeness, as well as in solid knowledge and discernment.

The three-day invitation-only forum brought together approximately 50 participants, including clergy, religious, lay pastoral workers, mental health professionals, and individuals with lived experience.

The aim of sessions was to balance theological reflection with professional insight, encouraging open dialogue, mutual learning, and the sharing of practical approaches from diverse pastoral contexts, such as conflict zones, migrant communities, schools, and parishes.

Core themes to be addressed included: 

• “Contexts of Distress and Resilience” — understanding how suffering and resilience are expressed across today’s social, cultural, and geopolitical realities. 
• “Lived Experience and Pastoral Practices”—exploring how pastoral ministries foster connection and accompaniment in parishes, schools, and communities. 
• “Caring for the Caregivers and the Ministry of Presence”—integrating mental health knowledge into pastoral formation and ensuring the well-being of those who serve; 
• “Theology, Anthropology, and the Question of Mental Well-Being”—reflecting on the meaning of mental well-being in light of Catholic theology, spirituality, and human anthropology.

The Ministry of Hope seeks to be more than an academic or professional exchange—it is a spiritual and pastoral encounter designed to renew the Church’s mission of accompaniment.

The forum invited participants to discern how the Church can continue fostering trust, dignity, and communion, particularly among those suffering from isolation, trauma, or despair. It also emphasizes the importance of forming ministers who can integrate psychological understanding with spiritual depth in their service.

Dignity is an antidote to isolation

As mental health issues continue to grow around the world, the Conference highlighted how the Church is working to combat isolation and individualism with an emphasis on human dignity.

The conference was a very worthwhile experience and sent the delegates to the four corners of the earth renewed in their commitment to advocate and work for those plagued with mental health issues both within and without the church.