Mental illness is not uncommon in our country. Having someone of your loved ones who is mentally ill is really a challenging and painful experience. Unfortunately the social stigma for the patients and their families is still going on.

Derogatory terms like "m’ ahniex," "iblah", "ghandu rota nieqsa" surely do not help to integrate the mentally ill and their families. Such abusive words perpetuate the grief that mental illness brings with it.

Living with people who are mentally ill can really be tough. Perhaps the major challenge that families of the mentally ill face is that they end up being prisoners in their own home. Since mentally ill people’s behaviour can be unpredictable, the family might deem appropriate not to invite people at home. Circumstances may compel parents to either take holidays separately or not to have any at all, lest something terrible might occur to their son or daughter when they are on their own at home. Such a confinement in their home adds more their isolation, frustration, anxiety and anger.

Families of the mentally ill in our parishes need pastoral care and support. It is the responsibility of the Parish Priest, the presbyterium and the parish to welcome and accompany these families the best they can. Pastoral companionship with these people demands a great deal of commitment, empathy and, above all, patience. In what way can priests minister to such families?

The fundamental important tip is that priests be familiar with recent literature on mental illness. The more they know about what the mentally ill and their families go through the better they are made aware and sensible of the needs the families of the Mentally Ill have. Top priority of these needs is surely that of feeling accepted, understood and nurtured by the Church and God. Priests embody both realms. If the priest is present to these families, God’s loving compassion through his Church is being conveyed to them. It is the priest’s caring duty to take the initiative and find out these families in the parish where he serves. Visiting them regularly and let them vent out their emotions regarding the familial situation they are living in can really be a moment of comfort, relief and healing. These pastoral visits can make the family experience a God who really hears, knows and is with his people in their sufferings. A priest’s non-judgmental openness, unconditional respect, and availability to listen invites and empowers the family members to frankly share what is really distressing them in their situation without any fear of being dismissed or have their situation minimised. The God, they think, who deserted them, is the God who comes to their home to give them time and comfort them. Also, such a priest can educate his parishioners to show more care, compassion and charity towards them.

Families of mentally ill need a priest who journeys with them in their ups and downs of life. In his message for the 14th World Day of the Sick, Pope Benedict XVI said that the Church, especially through her chaplains, fruitfully serves the Mentally Ill and their families when she is aware "to express Christ's love and concern" for them. May priests be protagonists in making the mentally ill and their families more heard, understood, accepted and supported both in the Church and in the Maltese society.

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

San Gwann