As noted above, Catholics come from a particular social culture and value system. Catholic beliefs that promote compassion and love of neighbour, particularly to those who are less fortunate, should influence attitudes toward those with mental illness. Back in the 5th century AD, St. Augustine wrote the following:

“Crazy people say and do many incongruous things, things for the most part alien to their intentions and their characters, certainly contrary to their good intentions and characters; and when we think about their words and actions, or see them with our eyes, we can scarcely – or possibly we cannot at all – restrain our tears, if we consider their situation as it deserves to be considered.” (St. Augustine, City of God, 413AD, translation by Bettenson, 2003, p 465).

It should not be surprising, then, that the Catholic Church founded one o the first mental hospitals for care of the mentally ill in 490 AD in Jerusalem (Alexander & Selesnick, 1966). In the 6th century, the Church cared for the mentally ill in monasteries (Fleming, 1929). The first psychiatric hospital in Europe, the Pryor of St. Mary’s of Bethlehem, was established by the Church in London in 1247. The latter hospital was later replaced by Bethlehem Hospital or Bethlem, which remains there today as the Bethlem Royal Hospital (Andrews et al., 1997).

Admittedly, the Catholic Church was anything but compassionate to the mentally at different times in history, particularly during the Middle Ages. As the number of people with mental illness grew in Europe, there was pressure on ecclesiastical authorities to do something, leading to the view that mental illness was caused by demonic possession. The Inquisition was established in 1233, and Malleus Maleficarum (guide for the treatment of the possessed) was published in 1487. This was followed by a wave of persecution that would lead to the death of thousands of mentally ill people who were burned at the stake or decapitated during the next 200 years (Zilboorg, 1941). In the famous Salem Witch Trials in 1692 in New England, nearly 100 people would be accused and 19 executed for being witches or demon possessed (Gamwell & Tomes, 1995). Much has changed, though, since then.

The Catholic Church today has some of the largest programs proving social services to the mentally ill in the U.S. and around the world (Koenig, 2004, pp 193-194). Catholic Charities in the U.S. had its origin in 1727 when French nuns established an orphanage in New Orleans. Today it serves approximately seven million people each year by providing disaster assistance, emergency financial aid, food services, health clinics, housing services, and mental health counselling (Hoover, 2016). In addition, there are a number of Catholic psychiatric hospitals (Saint Luke’s Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, for example), psychiatric inpatient wards at Catholic hospitals, residential treatment facilities, and outpatient mental health centres throughout the U.S. Caritas International advocates for those with mental health problems around the world (Caritas, 2017).