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A national nonprofit this week announced that it has developed a 12-session Catholic program to help people who are grieving the loss of a loved one to suicide.
Red Bird Ministries, a pro-life organization based in Louisiana that supports families who have lost a child, stated in a June 3 press release that certified spiritual director Sr. Kathryn Maney, M.S., a board member who has a master’s degree in moral theology from the graduate school of Christendom College, and Dr. Matthew Breuninger, a psychologist and an associate professor of psychology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, designed the sessions for the initiative, which is called “Remember.”
“Remember” includes Ignatian prayer exercises to support healing and includes topics such as general and suicide-specific grief, relevant and applicable Church teachings, and understanding the difficulties of the deceased loved one, according to the release. Program facilitators must have personally experienced loss from a suicide, completed the program as a participant, received a pastor’s letter of recommendation, and completed leadership training for the program. The ministry may make case-by-case exceptions.
“Grief after suicide loss is complex, isolating, and profoundly painful. The Remember program offers a compassionate path forward — providing faith-centered support, healing, and community for those carrying the weight of loss,” the initiative’s webpage states.
One participant described the program, which was piloted in 2024, as “a great blessing to me and the other participants … I appreciated the spiritual as well as the educational and sharing aspects.”
Remember’s webpage also offers printable resources for those who are grieving, as well as books, articles, videos, recommended programs, and connections to Catholic therapists.
In the release, Red Bird Ministries thanked Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, and Bishop James Douglas Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, who have often advocated for mental health awareness, for their spiritual support of the initiative and “for reminding us that the Church is here, especially in our deepest sorrow.”
Bishop Conley has spoken about his own mental health struggle in pastoral letters for Mental Health Awareness Month, as CatholicVote previously reported.
Those considering registering for the program can find further information here.
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