One in every seven people in the world lives today with a mental disorder, often in silence and marked by stigma and loneliness. For this reason, Pope Leo XIV has dedicated his prayer intention for the month of October to mental health ministry.
The pontiff presents to God our brothers and sisters who suffer alone with anxiety, depression or other mental illnesses, recalling that God calls them by name “with tenderness”. He asks forgiveness for the times when the community “has looked the other way”, fueling stigma and discrimination, and prays that the Church may be an “open house”, a safe space that listens without judging and draws near without fear.
