What does the Church have to say about mental illness and the field of psychology? The answer is at the same time, very little and oh so much! To my knowledge, there are only three documents from members of the Church hierarchy specifically on the topic (address by JPII to healthcare workers, a reflection from Benedict XVI on world day for the sick, and Hope & Healing by the California Bishops). As far as what the Church has to say about humans and the subject of their well-being though there is so much! Much of what The Face of Mercy proclaims about the call of the Church to love those struggling with mental illness comes from a few core teachings in the vault of the Faith, most especially from the innate dignity of the human person and the preferential option for the poor.
For the moment, I want to focus on the connection between that preferential option for the poor. This exclusively Christian concept is taken from the example of Jesus’ ministry. He often chose to spend his time with the most rejected persons in society. He acknowledged children, women, lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, and beggars, all outcasts of his time. “This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor” (CCC, 2444). The Church, in imitation of Christ, has taken this to heart and expresses that there is a preferential option for the poor, that is, whenever possible, we serve the poor and vulnerable first. The love for Christ inspires us to push against the norm in almost every society, to reach out first to those most in need. This love for the poor is meant to be transformative, one that shifts them from the outskirts of society to a point of prime consideration. “The last shall become first” (Matthew 20:16).
This love for the poor is often what the world outside of Christianity recognizes as good in our saints, those that are widely known and lauded, like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Teresa of Calcutta. This tradition of love for the poor has been spoken about by Popes and Saints alike:
“Love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel.” Pope Benedict XVI
"When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve Jesus. We must not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus.” St. Rose of Lima
“Within the community of believers there can never be room for a poverty that denies anyone what is needed for a dignified life.” Deus Caritas Est, Pope Ben. XVI“It is to those who have the most need of us that we ought to show our love more especially.” St. Francis de Sales
”Love the poor tenderly, regarding them as your masters and yourselves as their servants.”
St. John of God
Some core ideas of the preferential option of the poor are the imitation of Christ in both the people He reached out to and His own poverty. How does this apply to mental health and illness?
Jesus did not shy away from suffering or misery. He didn’t become human in a life that was comfortable or anything, but one where he knew the depths of human emotion.
Jesus met others in their distress: the woman caught in adultery, Mary & Martha after Lazarus’ death, Thomas’ in his doubts, and the lepers whose illness kept them from community.
The Catechism mentions that this love for the poor is meant to include all those who are suffering. It specifically mentions ‘psychological ills’ in the list of human misery that should elicit compassion and mercy. All forms of poverty and distress are consequences of original sin and a cause not for blame or dismissal, but a genuine movement of the heart to work and care for their good. In our society, mental illness is a particular area that we can exhibit this preference for the poor, a care that goes beyond what a person can do, to love tenderly those most in need. My hope is that The Face of Mercy can help equip people with practicals of how to put this love into action, caring for Jesus in His distressing disguise of those who are poor in mental health, as well as the Church has historically cared for the poor in many other ways!