“New Things” in Theology Point to the Science of Mental Health

/ Tom Delaney, O.F.S.

(photo: Sherburne County, Minnesota (USA), Tom Delaney, 2025)

And just like that…it’s winter here in Central Minnesota. The snow fell overnight while a stiff wind blew from the north that shook the forest. Fittingly, today’s Liturgy of the Word includes the beautiful canticle from Daniel (Chapter 3) and …

Cold and chill, bless the Lord;
Praise and exalt him above all forever.

Today Vatican News reports that Pope Leo XIV addressed members of the International Theological Commission and encouraged their continued mission and works discerning “new things” in the ongoing journey of the human family and the Catholic Church. Pope Leo spoke in specific terms that, “These are realities which urgently challenge us as the people of God, so that we may proclaim with creative fidelity the Good News given to the world ‘once for all’ by God our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.” In this ongoing journey of the human family and the Catholic Church, Pope Leo explained, “As scientia fidei [science of faith], theology has above all the task of contemplating, and then of reflecting on and spreading the perennial and transformative light of Christ in the changing course of our history.”

Pope Leo also made important comments concerning the relationship of Catholic faith to science. He revisited the observations of Pope Benedict XVI that there may be an “excessive sectorization of knowledge” that closes the human sciences to metaphysics. The Pope went on to observe that this division of knowledge impedes science itself, and the development of peoples. Pope Leo concluded, “Just as there is no faculty that faith does not enlighten, so there is no science that theology may ignore.”

Pope Leo’s observations come at a time of some renewed interest specifically in the intersection of theology and the science of mental health. There is significant demand for “Catholic” counselors and psychotherapists as a new category of health care provider integrating Catholic faith with the science of mental health. After years of research in the fields of human flourishing and forgiveness, the director of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and co-director of Harvard’s Initiative on Health, Religion and Spirituality, Tyler Vanderweele, is promoting a renewed vision for a “theology of health” in his recently published book of the same name, and in recent presentations at the Harvard Catholic Forum, the DeNicola Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame University, and at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics at Australian Catholic University. At the same time, a recent Gallup poll indicates continuing declines in religiosity among Americans. The relatively recent establishment and rapid growth of the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers is also worthy of note, as is the growth of mental health ministries in dioceses across the United States, plus Canada and Nigeria as well. The time for a renewed focus on the intersection of theology and mental health science is NOW!

I think that there are at least seven “new things” that are important points of intersection between theology and the science of mental health, and that should get the kind of renewed focus that Pope Leo may be encouraging for us:

  • Narratives of healing in the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, confirm and reinforce the importance and role of religious faith in healing. When Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you,” (e.g. Luke 17:11-19; Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 10:46-52) it does not assert a quid pro quo relationship of faith for healing, but it does attribute certain experiences of healing to the faith of the healed. At the least, it communicated that there is a relationship between faith in Jesus Christ and the physiological states of healing. The relationship can be sought after and explored at the intersection of theology and science.
  • The Catechism of the Catholic Church confirms and reinforces the natural and divine contexts and aims of personal health, wellbeing and recovery to states of health and wellbeing. During my coursework in catechesis, I put a number of stars next to each paragraph of the Catechism that communicates God’s design and desire for people to live in a state of mental health and wellbeing. Some paragraphs received one star for a clear statement. Some received two for not only making a clear statement, but one that is compelling for any person struggling with mental health. Some received three stars for absolute clarity, motivational message, and transcendent inspiration. My goal was to have a compendium of statements of faith that could be instrumental in care for persons in recovery from addiction, depression, anxiety, trauma, and other mental health challenges. The number of stars I scrawled throughout my text rivals the night sky.
  • Research suggests that people who need mental health care are more likely to seek, access, and engage in that care if seeking that care is based on their religious faith and affiliation. I will list some of the exemplary studies in this area with links to where you may read them yourself:
  • There is some evidence from research suggesting that integrating components of a client or patient’s religious beliefs in mental health therapy may improve the effectiveness of that therapy. I will list some of the exemplary studies in this area with links to where you may read them yourself:
  • Mental health care that is grounded in religious beliefs and faith may render that care more effective through the attitudes and beliefs of caregivers grounded in those religious beliefs and faith. Religious beliefs and faith as a basis for health care has been explained by Franciscan physician and author Daniel Sulmasy (O.F.M.) including The Healer’s Calling (1997) and A Balm for Gilead: Meditations on Spirituality and the Healing Arts (2006). Franciscan health care ethics scholar Thomas Nairn (O.F.M.) has also produced some very informative work as well. Further exploration could develop an integrated model of care at the intersection of theology and mental health science.
  • Research links religious faith as a motivator for forgiveness, and links forgiveness to positive mental health outcomes and wellbeing. In this way, forgiveness is a practice that mediates the relationship between faith and mental health, in a way that results in the positive mental health outcomes and wellbeing that the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains are fulfillment of natural and divine dimensions of human existence. This was a suggestion also in Vanderweele and Lee’s (2025) article “Love and Human Flourishing” in the International Journal of Wellbeing.
  • The integration of theology and the science of mental health could further advance current research suggesting the increased effectiveness of interdisciplinary care teams that combine pastors with mental health professionals. Most recently this was a suggestion also in Vanderweele and Lee’s (2025) article “Love and Human Flourishing” in the International Journal of Wellbeing. I will list some of the exemplary studies in this area with links to where you may read them yourself:

Live and Forgive is work based on the observation that theology and the science of mental health are in fact mutually supportive. In example after example, theology affirms something discovered through scientific research into mental health, or research into a means of mental health like the REACH Forgiveness Process taught through Live and Forgive small group series and other event designs. Likewise, in example after example, scientific research into mental health affirms something taught and believed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. My experience has been that the two are intertwined in important ways for us to have wellbeing, and are practically inextricable from each other. I think we should feel encouraged by Pope Leo’s observations to go further in not only understanding the intersection of theology and the science of mental health, but to also to put that understanding to work for good in ourselves, and in our communities. Let’s do it!

Please share these words with someone who could use encouragement today!

This text is an original work of its author Tom Delaney and was entirely composed without the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

If your parish or faith community is seeking a deeper experience of forgiveness, healing, mercy, and spiritual renewal, Live and Forgive is here to help. To begin the conversation, email Live and Forgive presenter and facilitator Tom Delaney at tom@liveandforgive.com — he will be glad to connect with you for a conversation. Please type in your email and click “Subscribe” below to stay connected and get Live and Forgive articles delivered to you.

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