News - South Africa Chapter

On 4 March 2023, the Parish Mental Health Ministry team of St Peter’s in Klerksdorp diocese received the first training focused on the implementation of the Ministry. Melese Shula (CATHCA’s Skills Development Officer who is also the coordinator for Parish Mental Health Ministry Chapter) had previously met with the Parish Pastoral Council of the Parish where he had explained to them what the Ministry would entail and the role of the leaders in its implementation. The parish Mental Health Ministry has already started raising awareness of the importance of Mental Health in the parish and some outreach work in nearby communities. The next step will be meeting with other stakeholders involved in mental health for a broader understanding of the challenges of mental health and initiating collaborative mechanisms.

The Catholic Diocese of Klerksdorp becomes the second Diocese in the Episcopal Conference of South Africa to welcome Parish Mental Health Ministry.

In the month of November, Our Parish Mental Health Ministry team of Our Lady of Mercy had a discussion with the men of the parish on the topic of “ Men’s Mental health care”

Our Parish Mental health team of All Saints Parish discussed the importance of Women’s Mental Health. Many members of the parish had a chance to open up and speak about their experiences related to their own mental health and their dear ones.

Parish Mental Health Ministry team of Our Lady of Mercy parish participating in outreach program to assist children with mental health challenges.

Regular access to social media forums is a factor in mental health challenges among the youth in South Africa’s Ennerdale Parish of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg, the pastoral agent for the Mental Health Ministry (MHM) has said. In an interview with ACI Africa, Chester Brown who is the MHM agent at All Saints Ennerdale Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Johannesburg said, “Every time I meet with young people to address youth matters, social media always comes up.”

2 June 2022 Youth Month celebration

Saturday June 25 we had a wonderful gathering with the youth of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Emdeni where the topic was Youth and Mental Health. These were confirmation group, Alter Servers, Children of Mercy and Soldiers of Christ. A report can be read here.

On Radio Veritas: Catholic Radio

CATHCA launches project aimed to address mental health issues. Mental health problems are at a crisis point in South Africa, with those affected facing stigma and even social exclusion — which leads 73% to not seek help. Dr Melese Shula of the Catholic Health Care Association explains the problem, Public knowledge of one’s mental illness can result in social exclusion, which can create a tumbling block for seeking support. In many cases, that exclusion as well as lack of support and treatment can lead to suicide. The mental health crisis gets worse because many people don’t even know where to go to get help, or are too scared to seek it.

Dr. Melese said the mental health crisis has been exacerbated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, “especially among the poor and vulnerable in our society. Socio-economic factors also have a negative impact on mental health.”

All Saints (2nd April) and Our Lady of Mercy (26 March) Parishes held a discussion with community collaborators on the importance of mental health and working against stigma and discrimination associated to mental health illness.

A one-year pilot project funded by the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers (ACMHM) for the period January-December 2022 to support the Catholic parishes of All Saints and Our Lady of Mercy in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg to develop a Mental Health Ministry (MHM) as an integral part of their parish activities. The project is designed to reach out to the communities of Emdeni, Ennerdale and nearby areas.

An envisaged Catholic Parish health apostolate aims to raise awareness about mental issues, an official of the entity behind the initiative has said. In a recent interview with ACI Africa, the skills development Coordinator of the Catholic Health Care Association of Southern Africa (CATHCA) said that through the envisaged Catholic Parish initiative, stigma and discrimination against those living with mental illness will be reduced and the people of God will be equipped with the necessary tools to address the “lack of understanding” about mental illness.