Catholic institute launches program to address suicide epidemic among young men

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One of the most prominent Catholic ministries in the United States is launching a program aimed at combating the nation's mental health crisis among young men.

The Word on Fire Institute told Fox News Digital that Redemption, a "men's formation community," is set to begin this week and serve as a social resource for young men struggling with depression, loneliness, suicidal ideation, and other existential crises.

"The outreach we have initiated through the Word on Fire Institute is not simply concerned with mental health (while this is taken with utmost seriousness) but with an existential crisis that has had deep impact on men in our culture — this crisis is about meaning and purpose," Bishop Robert Barron, the founder of Word on Fire and the Word on Fire Institute, told Fox News Digital.

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Bishop Robert Barron administers the sacrament of confirmation to a teenage Catholic parishioner during the mass. Barron is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester. He is also the founder of Word on Fire Ministries and the Word on Fire Institute. (Word on Fire)

"Look at the manner that the culture encourages the worst behaviors and, once lives are ruined, offers no chance at redemption. Consider how the culture simultaneously holds men to high standards while at the same time denigrating them as toxic and buffoons," the bishop continued. "Finally, men are more and more socially isolated, having few if any friends or mentors."

The program will offer regular virtual meetings, online resources, and spiritual counseling for men around the world seeking community or religious guidance.

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The Redemption program was inspired by actor Shia LaBeouf, who lived with a men's monastic community while preparing for his role in the 2022 film "Padre Pio."

A Capuchin friar takes part in evening prayer at Capuchin College at a service in Washington, D.C. (Laura Chase de Formigny for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Barron, who became friends with the actor following his public conversion to Catholicism, said LaBeouf approached him "about finding a way to help the Capuchin friars to extend to others the grace that he had received."  

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LaBeouf has said in interviews that his time with the Capuchins saved him from a spiraling existential crisis that was pushing him to the brink of suicide.

Barron turned to Word on Fire CEO Fr. Steve Grunow to explore how LaBeouf's life-saving encounter with faith could be extended to men around the world.

"Too many men face the agony of hopelessness alone and without recourse. The raw facts of life hit men hard and when they are down and out, where and how can they find redemption and the amazing grace of another chance?" Grunow told Fox News Digital. 

Actor Shia LaBeouf is shown portraying Catholic friar St. Padre Pio in the 2022 film "Padre Pio." LaBeouf lived with a community of Capuchin friars to prepare for the role — an experience he credited for his conversion to Catholicism and recovery from a spiraling mental crisis that pushed him to the brink of suicide.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, men committed suicide 3.85 times more than women in 2022. 

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Additionally, the AFSP reports that white males made up 68.5% of all suicides in that same year.

"The statistics regarding the prevalence of male suicide should be a wake up call.  How have so many men come to understand that killing themselves is the most efficacious way out of a crisis?" Grunow added. "Why are so many men losing hope or living lives of quiet desperation?  It seems to me that the Church should be at the forefront of addressing a situation that is all often dismissed or overlooked."