“Over the past number of years here in Ireland and around the world, and as recently as earlier this year in our own area, priests have died by suicide,” said Fr Michael Toomey during a homily last weekend as part of Men’s Mental Health Week.
Fr Toomey is PP of St Carlo Acutis Parish Pastoral Area in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. He continued, saying that “there is a tendency to place priests on a pedestal, expecting them to always be strong, joyful, and immune to the struggles of life. But priests are not superhuman; they are men with emotions, challenges, and vulnerabilities, just like everyone else. They carry their own wounds while still attending to the wounded.”
The priest also chose to vulnerably share his own experience of witnessing the effects of the lack of acknowledgement or care for men’s mental health. “Sadly, when I was 13, a very dear priest who encouraged me to be an altar server took his own life, so from a young age I have been deeply troubled and bereaved by this. Personally, the tragic news of the death of a priest is for me a sobering reminder that priests…face the complexities of… human struggles,” he said.
“Many priests and religious may silently carry these struggles, fearing stigma or judgment. They may hesitate to seek help, thinking it might be perceived as a lack of faith or a failure in their vocation,” the priest said. And continued, “This mindset can be isolating and dangerous. Mental health struggles are not signs of spiritual weakness. Depression, anxiety, and burnout are not foreign to priests. They are human realities that can affect anyone, regardless of faith or what they do for a job, whether someone is single or has a family. Mental health affects every human being no matter what their vocation.”
A key message from his homily was a call for support and compassion to uplift the priests who serve the parish community, asking the churchgoers to “examine how we treat our priests and religious…Do we see them as human beings and individuals with personal lives and struggles, or only as figures of authority?”
Fr Toomey urged everyone to “look out for one another as we journey together with all the challenges that life can throw at any one of us at any time.”