Pope Francis on World Mental Health Day: Remember Young Victims of Suicide

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Pope Francis prayed the Angelus before one of the largest crowd of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square since the start of the pandemic.

The Pope recalled that it was World Mental Health Day, and prayed especially for the victims of suicide.

“Today, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, I would like, to remember our brothers and sisters affected by mental disorders and also the victims, often young, of suicide. Let us pray for them and for their families, so that they are not left alone or discriminated against, but welcomed and supported,” said the Pope.

Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel story of the rich man who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, which he says misses the true aim of the faith.

“Dear brothers and sisters, a faith without giving, a faith without giving freely is an incomplete faith, a weak faith. We can compare it to a rich and nourishing food that nonetheless lacks flavor, or to a well-played match, but without a goal: it’s no good, it’s missing the ‘salt,’” said the Holy Father.

He also announced the proclamation of two new Blesseds: a sixteenth-century mother from
Naples, María Lorenza Longo, who founded a hospital for the terminally ill, as well as the founder of the Oblates of the Sacred Heart, Father Francesco Mottola, from southern Italy.