Suicide among priests needs to be ‘urgently addressed’, says senior Catholic priest

Clergy are people too and often struggle in silence, afraid that opening up may be judged as a lack of faith

Sarah MacDonald, writing in the Irish Independent

Link to article: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/suicide-among-priests-needs-to-be-urgently-addressed-says-senior-catholic-priest/a/157552739.html

Suicide among priests must be “urgently addressed”, a senior Catholic priest has warned as he revealed that a number of clerics have died by suicide in Ireland in recent years.

Fr Michael Toomey, who is parish priest of the St Carlo Acutis pastoral area in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore, said the “tragedy” of these deaths was “a call to action”.

Speaking ahead of International Men’s Mental Health Week, the priest said there was a “tendency to place priests on a pedestal, expecting them to always be strong, joyful and immune to the struggles of life”.

But he stressed to parishioners on Sunday, “priests are not superhuman”.

The parish priest appealed to people to examine how they treat priests and religious figures.

“Do we see them as human beings and individuals with personal lives and struggles, or only as figures of authority? Do we add to their struggles and challenges by speaking ill of them either publicly, with online comments, or to them directly?” he asked.

Fr Toomey, who covers the parishes of Ardfinnan, Ballybacon, Grange, Newcastle in Co Tipperary, and Fourmilewater, Touraneena and the Nire in Co Waterford, also called for the mental health of clergy to be prioritised by the Catholic Church.

“Priests need access to counselling, peer support and opportunities for rest and renewal,” he said.

Calling for the creation of safe spaces where priests can be vulnerable without fear of judgment, he said he was also calling for people to approach priests with compassion, not just expectations and to see priests as they are – “humans, loved by God, and in need of care”.

Speaking about priesthood, Fr Toomey said it was “an immense gift” but came with “unique demands”.

These include the weight of pastoral care, sometimes overwhelming administration, for which little or no training was given, the solitude of the life, expectations from the faithful, and constant need to be available to others, sometimes at the cost of personal well-being.

These, he warned, can lead to burnout.

“Many priests and religious may silently carry these struggles, fearing stigma or judgment. They may hesitate to seek help, thinking it might be perceived as a lack of faith or a failure in their vocation. This mindset can be isolating and dangerous,” he said.

Mental health struggles “are not signs of spiritual weakness”, he said and he stressed that depression, anxiety and burnout are not foreign to priests.

“They are human realities that can affect anyone, regardless of faith or what they do for a job, whether someone is single or have a family,” he said.

“It is OK not to be OK. It is important to rest. It is vital to seek help. Your humanity does not diminish your priesthood; rather it enriches it. You do not have to carry the weight of the world alone,” he said of priests.

He appealed to priests to seek help through the many agencies available and speak to other priests.

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