Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics to join him in praying this month for those who struggle with suicidal thoughts and for all people “who live in darkness and despair”. Source: OSV News.
“May they always find a community that welcomes them, listens to them and accompanies them,” including by offering comfort, support and “necessary professional help,” he prayed.
The Pope Video sharing his prayer intention for November was distributed on Tuesday by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
“Let us pray that those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care and love they need in their community, and be open to the beauty of life,” Pope Leo said in the video.
“May we know how to be close with respect and tenderness, helping to heal wounds, build bonds and open horizons,” he said. “Together, may we rediscover that life is a gift, that there is still beauty and meaning, even in the midst of pain and suffering.”
“We are well aware that those who follow you are also vulnerable to sadness without hope,” he said.
The Pope prayed that the Lord would “always make us feel your love so that, through your closeness to us, we can recognise and proclaim to all the infinite love of the Father who leads us by the hand to renew our trust in the life you give us”.
Choosing suicide prevention as his prayer intention for the month of November coincided with an international conference titled, “Ministry of Hope: International Catholic Forum on Mental Well-being,” being held in Rome this week.
Organised by the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers and under the patronage of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the conference was to discuss how the Christian community can accompany people who struggle with mental health issues, depression and extreme pain, and how to prevent the risk of suicide through listening and closeness.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2280-2283) teaches that suicide contradicts love of self, others and God. However, it also recognises that “serious psychological disturbances, anxiety, or fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish personal responsibility”, the prayer network said in a press release.
The Church “invites us not to despair of the eternal salvation of those who have taken their own life, but to entrust them to God’s mercy and to the community’s prayer,” it said.
“The general practice of the Church today is to treat very respectfully those who have died by suicide, partly because in recent years, the Church has progressively grown in its attentiveness to mental health, both through prayer and its pastoral care,” it added.
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Pope’s prayer intention is for those struggling with suicidal thoughts (By Carol Glatz, OSV News)
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