Catholic bishops to join health professionals for online mental health retreat
Left to right: Father Timothy Gallagher, Archbishop Borys Gudziak, Archbishop Nelson Perez, Archbishop Alexander Sample. / Credit: SOCA CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Several Catholic bishops and priests will join Catholic therapists, authors, and other experts later this month for a free online conference on mental health and prayer.
The Divine Fulfillment Conference, to be held Dec. 27–29, “is a first and perhaps only of its kind event,” conference spokesman Daniel Coleman told CNA. A lay apostolate based in Denver called Souls of the Christian Apostolate (SOCA) is organizing the conference.
The conference’s goal, Coleman explained, is “to move the needle on this epidemic of mental illness, first in the life of participants and then, God-willing, to the people closest to them amongst family, friends, and greater community.”
The conference will feature speakers ranging from archbishops to qualified mental health counselors, including Catholic therapist and author Bob Schuchts; Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon; and Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska.
The goal of the conference, Coleman explained, is “to move the needle on this epidemic of mental illness, first in the life of participants and then, God willing, to the people closest to them amongst family, friends, and greater community.”
Coleman called the Divine Fulfillment Conference “a unique fusion and special opportunity.”
The idea for the conference began with an idea by SOCA’s founder, Kevin Roerty, who suggested that SOCA focus on mental health and mental prayer, “two items that sorely need attention in today’s world and Church,” Coleman noted.
“When he made the suggestion it really resonated, and we held that in our hearts for quite some time and were delighted to later find out that Bishop [Robert] Barron and Archbishop [Borys] Gudziak in conjunction with the USCCB [U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops] called for a year to raise awareness of mental health,” Coleman said.
“In a world tending toward shallowness and despair that results from forgetting about God, there is one solution, one thing necessary: the interior life with God and the healing that brings to the depths of our souls,” Roerty told CNA. “With the Divine Fulfillment Conference, our aspiration is to provide hope and healing to mental health through a perspective that incorporates deep prayer.”
SOCA offers a step-by-step guide and resources to prayer as well as remote and in-person accompaniment, Coleman explained. The group also offers check-ins and online group accountability, he noted.
“SOCA is dedicated to spreading the Catholic mystical tradition of interior life to as many Catholics as possible through a three-pillar approach that we have found great success in, initiating over 1,300 Catholics into deeper intimacy with Christ last year alone,” Coleman explained.
The list of speakers includes Catholic authors Jason Evert, known for his work on chastity, and Father Timothy Gallagher, OMV, a Catholic priest known for his books on Ignatian spirituality. Other speakers include Deacon Ed Shoener, president of the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers, and Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, psychiatrist and director of the Program in Bioethics and American Democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Several other archbishops and bishops are scheduled to speak at the conference, including Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Philadelphia; Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas; Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia; and Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin.
In addition to a long list of speakers, the conference offers practical guidance “for mental and spiritual peace,” according to the press release. The conference will also provide contact information for professional mental health help as well as one-on-one discipleship opportunities in the months following the event.
Coleman called the Divine Fulfillment Conference “a unique fusion and special opportunity.”
“The fruits have been outstanding,” he said. “Greater peace, greater joy, vocations!”
For more information on the conference and to register, click here.
