We heal one another: How the parish community supports persons with mental illness and their families

This project brings into focus the reality of mental illness within parish life in the Diocese of Cleveland. My hope is that local parish communities can become a healing force to parishioners challenged by mental illness. By encouraging their full participation in the life of the parish, the Church builds up of the body of Christ, and as a consequence, all members of the body of Christ can become who they are intended to be – imago Dei. This project puts forth the notion that people with mental illness are treated primarily from a secular perspective. It considers that perhaps the advancement and perceived superiority of psychiatry, psychotherapy, and pharmacology have displaced the Church's pastoral response and responsibility to support and care for people with mental illness. It also asks whether the ignorance and fear that contribute to the stigma and prejudice toward people with mental illness have eroded the willingness of parish communities to care for and engage with their parishioners with mental illness