Grief: Phoenix bishop loses third sibling to suicide

From the National Catholic Register:

After announcing Bishop John P. Dolan lost his sister to death by suicide, the Diocese of Phoenix on Wednesday renewed his “urgent plea to get mental health ministry underway.”

“Our hearts are breaking as we make known the loss of Mary Elizabeth Dolan, youngest sister of Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix,” the diocese shared on its social media pages Oct. 19.

“Mary, who from her days in college suffered from mental depressive disorder, was found on Oct. 16th to have died by suicide,” the statement said.

The diocese also shared that Mary is the third of Bishop Dolan’s eight siblings to die by suicide, “underlining his urgent plea to get mental health ministry underway in the Diocese of Phoenix.” He also lost a brother-in-law to suicide.

Bishop Dolan, who was installed as the fifth bishop of Phoenix in June, announced plans to establish a Catholic mental health ministry in the diocese last month.

“There are lots of people who are dealing with loved ones who are in crisis,” Bishop Dolan, 60, told CNA Sept. 19. “It’s a quiet work of charity, and obviously they need all the help they can get.”

The bishop hopes the new office will “let people know that they’re not alone when it comes to mental health.”

Bishop Dolan explained in an interview with Phoenix TV station ABC15 in September that his brother Tom died by suicide at the age of 19, after struggling, unbeknownst to his family, with mental health disorders. Bishop Dolan also lost both his 27-year-old sister Therese and brother-in-law to suicide eight years later, during his third year of studies in the seminary.