This is a superb idea.
From OSV News:
When Deacon Ernie Martinez took on his role as director of deacons for the Archdiocese of Denver three years ago, he brought with him an insight few clergy possess: 40 years of experience with the Denver Police Department, where he witnessed firsthand how peer support could save lives.
That experience has now translated into what organizers believe is the nation’s first diocesan-sponsored clergy peer support and resiliency initiative, a program designed to address the often-invisible weight carried by those who minister to others.
“No one survives this vocation alone,” said Deacon Martinez. “In law enforcement, we say, ‘Watch your six’ — I’ve got your back when you can’t see what’s coming. In the church, we say something older and holier: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ Different language, but the same mission.”
The program was launched in January with a four-day foundational certification training led by John Nicoletti, an internationally recognized clinical psychologist who has spent more than 40 years developing peer support systems for first responders. Close to 35 deacons from Denver and two from Colorado Springs completed the training, along with four priests.
Father Brad Noonan, pastor of Our Lady of the Pines Parish in Black Forest, who has been a priest for 27 years and serves as both a fire chaplain in the Colorado Springs area and police chaplain for Parker, also participated in the training. He had completed similar peer support training with Nicoletti 17 years ago for the Castle Rock fire and police departments, giving him unique insight into how the model translates across professions.
Father Noonan called it “a remarkable gift” that the program garnered support from both Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila and Colorado Springs Bishop James R. Golka. “We’re blessed to have Archbishop Aquila and Bishop Golka, who care about their priests and deacons,” Father Noonan told Denver Catholic, the archdiocesan news outlet.
During the training, Archbishop Aquila addressed participants, emphasizing the spiritual dimension of peer support and the reality of the struggles clergy face.
“As brother deacons, as brother priests, they just need, at times, someone to really listen to them because they can get so caught up in the darkness that they don’t think there is any hope,” the archbishop said. “The devil will put into their heads that there is no hope, or it’s impossible for God. … But in Christ, there is always hope, and that is what you need to focus on.”
