When a Loved One Dies by Suicide

PRESS KIT

Dcn. Ed Shoener

President
Diocese of Scranton, PA

Ed Shoener was ordained a permanent deacon in 2004 and serves at St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Diocese of Scranton. Shoener is a founding member of the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers and the Catholic Institute of Mental Health Ministry at the University of San Diego. He serves on the Council on Mental Illness of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability and on the Board of Pathways to Promise, an interfaith cooperative that facilitates the faith community’s work in reaching out to those with mental illnesses and their families. Deacon Shoener, along with Bishop John Dolan, is coauthor of the books Responding to Suicide: A Pastoral Handbook for Catholic Leaders and When a Loved One Dies by Suicide (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN).

He, along with family and friends, founded “The Katie Foundation” after his daughter, Kathleen, died by suicide in 2016. Katie’s obituary went viral because it spoke to the needs and concerns of people who live with mental illness. He lives with his family in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Bishop John Dolan

The Most Reverend John P. Dolan was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Diego, Calif., July 1, 1989. He was ­installed as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix August 2, 2022. Bishop Dolan attended local Catholic schools in San Diego at St. Mary Magdalene parish and University High School, before attending St. Francis Seminary and the University of San Diego, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. He earned a Master’s degree in Divinity and Theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif.

Bishop Dolan, along with Deacon Ed Shoener, is coauthor of the books Responding to Suicide: A Pastoral Handbook for Catholic Leaders and When a Loved One Dies by Suicide (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN).