A medical condition at a young age left Robin Doheny, a parishioner of Lumen Christi in St. Paul, blind in her left eye. Growing up, she was often bullied, and her home life was chaotic. Because of stigma around mental health, she never felt free to talk about her struggles.
“It’s very difficult for my generation to ask for help,” said Doheny, 65. “But it’s so necessary. I could’ve retreated into myself, but I refused to do that. … If I don’t tell my story, others won’t either.”
When Doheny read about Lumen Christi’s The Mental Health and Well-Being Ministry in a church bulletin last year, she decided to help as much as she could. She set up informational tables, helped with retreats and steered a message of support the ministry hoped to convey. She explained that simply offering the ministry assists people struggling with mental health because they know Lumen Christi has a support system and staff ready to help.
Breaking the stigma that people with mental health challenges too often experience will go a long way toward helping them make the personal choice to speak up, Doheny said. “Life will make you or break you,” Doheny said. “Sometimes it does both.”
Dennis Degeneffe, who leads the ministry, knows personally what suffering from a mental health crisis can look like. His eldest son, Andre, suffered from a serious mental health disorder and was unwilling to accept help due to stigma. He died in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions for family members, the funeral had to be postponed to Nov. 11, 2020, what would have been Andre’s 40th birthday.
Carrying the weight of losing a son, Degeneffe decided it was time to talk about mental health at his parish to help others with their challenges. After the funeral, Dennis talked with the Social Justice Committee and together they decided to start what became The Mental Health and Well-Being Ministry.
In December of 2020, the first meeting was held at Lumen Christi, officially launching the ministry. The committee also did external research and ultimately connected with Dr. Wendal Callahan and Deacon Ed Schoener, who were starting up The Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers. Also, Degeneffe was working with Mental Health Connect, an aggregation of Twin Cities faith-based organizations that provided education, collaboration and navigation of the mental health system.
Lumen Christi’s pastor, Father Dan Haugan, suggested as the ministry formed that change can be incremental and it doesn’t help to force the issue. The ministry focuses on creating a “culture of care” in which there is a space to share in parishioners’ most difficult and joyous moments.
Talking with The Catholic Spirit, Lumen Christi ministry staff said the ministry is critical now. They quoted from the U.S. surgeon general’s report in May 2023, warning that there is an epidemic of loneliness and isolation.
Ministry staff said that Lumen Christi’s 3,800 parishioners need to know how to help prevent a mental health crisis and where to find help.
Thus far, the ministry’s outreach has included 11 talks and programs offered to Lumen Christi parishioners, including a well-being fair and Sanctuary Series, eight online sessions with testimonies from Catholics about living with mental health challenges and a discussion led by facilitators.
Available support structures for parishioners at Lumen Christi include Mental Health Connect, Ramsey County resources, and consultation services with Steve Regnier, the parish’s director of care, support and justice. There is also a developing Stephen Ministry.
“We’re looking at mental illness, but also well-being,” said Cleta Galvez who has a Ph.D. in organizational development and is a member of the parish’s mental health and well-being ministry committee. She supports Degeneffe and Regnier with organization and program development work.
“All of us are susceptible to something happening. … We understand in today’s world, anything can happen,” Galvez said. “A child who develops schizophrenia, (experiences) a car accident, these things happen, and people’s lives change overnight. There is a way to live with a mental health challenge and still live a good life.”
God is with everyone, “whether you’re languishing or struggling with mental illness,” Galvez said.
In addition to offering education and resources, ministry staff hope that by opening conversations through speaker events, homilies and other opportunities, the stigma surrounding mental health challenges can be lifted. The priority for the past three years has been education and connecting parishioners to resources.
And the heart of the ministry is a desire to dispel the stigma that can surround mental health challenges. This work is being done through a team of five staff members — Degeneffe, Galvez, Regnier, Jeff Maciej and Nan Cedarblade — and a board of advisors.
The ministry follows the model of mental well-being offered by Living Compass, a nonprofit that equips organizations with tools and training to improve spirituality and wellness. The model encompasses four areas of personhood, including the heart (relationships and emotions), the soul (spirituality and rest and play), the mind (vocation and organization), and strength (resilience and care for the body).
These services and partnerships are reflected in the ministry’s mission statement: “The Mental Health and Well-Being Ministry is inspired by the Lumen Christi Mission, whereas we aim to shine light upon the importance of caring for ourselves and others in whole and complete ways, recognizing that well-being incorporates the spirit, mind, and body. In taking care of ourselves and others, our light to the world will be brighter, stronger, and more impactful.”
The ministry also hopes to work grow a network of mental health ministries through Catholic parishes in the Twin Cities. It’s mission statement for this effort reads:
“By uniting Catholic churches across the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis area, our Mental Health and Well-being Ministry can harness the collective wisdom, resources, and talents of many to create a program that is both relevant and impactful for parishioners. A coalition approach fosters collaboration, allowing parishes to share expertise, broaden outreach, and develop initiatives that are more sustainable and comprehensive than any one parish could achieve alone. While individual church ministries remain invaluable, parishes working together enables us to amplify support, address diverse needs, and ensure no one is left behind in our mission to uplift mental health and well-being. Through partnership, we can cultivate a thriving network of care—one that reflects the strength of our shared faith and commitment to spiritual and holistic healing.”
Father Haugan plays an important role as a spiritual leader in this ministry. He stressed that the parish is not equipped to provide psychological help, but it is able to connect people with mental health professionals. Each person, he said, is made in the image and likeness of God, no matter the issues. But priests, he said, shouldn’t try to reach beyond their capabilities.
“We have to know our limitations on the Church level which, of course, are limitless when it comes to the soul,” Father Haugan said. “But when you realize somebody might be experiencing bipolar or schizoaffective disorder, I can bless this person, I can pray for deliverance from evil, I can pray with them, I can try to help them with an attachment or an addiction to help at least recognize it, name it for what it is. But I can’t help that person find full wellness when it comes to schizoaffective or bipolar (disorders). But I know that co-working with a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a counselor of some sort who is trained in that … that we can find ways and paths for that person to receive such a beautiful wellness, or at least head towards that and to begin to realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel. That all is not lost.”
As a practicing Catholic, Doheny believes prayer helps people deal with mental health struggles. But prayer alone is not enough.
“So much in life is beyond our control,” Doheny said. “But we’re not meant to be alone on a mountaintop. If we don’t interact with people, we’ll be lonely. I had a small group of friends I could reach out to. You have to reach out. Sometimes it’s the only way to get through difficult times. … Keep talking. Find someone you trust. Reach out so people can know you’re hurting.”
Doheny, having struggled with her own mental health, feels deep compassion for others who might be experiencing the same. She said there are more people in pain inside the parish doors than Catholics might realize.
“I notice because I was noticed,” Doheny said. “God puts people ahead of you and behind you, to lead you forward and to catch you when you fall.”
LONELY STRUGGLES
Father Dan Haugan, pastor of Lumen Christi in St. Paul, said he has seen a shift in the Church landscape in recent years regarding mental health challenges. When he was ordained in 2003, he said he might have met one or two people with clear mental health issues. Now, it’s more common.
“I’m not terribly old, but I remember eight tracks (cassettes), and I remember records, and I remember telephones that were attached to a cord, and you couldn’t go any farther than the cord,” Father Haugan said. “But now everybody’s individualized. The family unit is broken down. It seems in culture and society we no longer center our culture around the family. It’s around the individual. Now (it is) autonomy and individual rights and people have lost a sense of community, lost a sense of agency.”
Father Haugan said he sees a generation of people who are lonely and despondent. He has noted a “general malaise and sadness” in people and a “yearning for relief in a great many different places” other than God or the family — “other than what we used to find comfort and consolation in.”
“Now it’s drugs or alcohol or promiscuity,” Father Haugan said. “If I do this, then they’ll love me or they’ll like me,’ and you realize very quickly they just objectified you, used you. It wasn’t love; it wasn’t acceptance. It was just somebody using you for a utilitarian purpose, whether it was to get material things or pleasure. And again, their hopes are dashed. ‘I just want to be loved. I just want to be part of the community. I just want to be accepted.’ And everybody is looking out for themselves, not looking out for the other.”
But Father Haugan also said that he has seen the younger generations find great satisfaction in altruistic causes, such as helping the poor, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, helping the marginalized. But in society as a whole, Father Haugan said, people continue to seek happiness apart from God.
“Somebody once described that as a sin, finding pleasure and seeking happiness away from God,” he said. “Society (has) turned away from God. We can’t talk about God. We can’t pray together as we once did. Fastest way to make somebody run away is to say, ‘I’d like to talk to you about Jesus.’ Boy, you see people running the opposite direction.”
Technology has played a role in this, Father Haugan said. “Where’s the sense of wonder? We’re assured of everything, but now we’re wondering, ‘Does anybody love me? Does God exist? Does God love me? Will I ever find somebody to love me?’ These are not things people should be worrying about.”
