October 29, 2025 // Diocese

St. Augustine Hosts Discussion on Women’s Health

Deacon Mel Tardy

Roughly 70 women attended “A  Casual Conversation About Women’s Health” on Saturday, October 18, at St. Augustine Parish in South Bend. The event was sponsored by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend’s Black Catholic Advisory Board and the Knights of St. Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary.

Melanie Williams, the director of diocesan mental health ministries for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, delivered the keynote address on “Flourishing in Faith: Nurturing Mental Wellness and Spiritual Strength for Women.”  The fundraiser benefited Catholic Charities.

Williams began by quoting Pope St. John Paul II’s 1995 Letter to Women, which said, “Thank you, every woman, for the simple fact of being a woman!”  She noted the lack of research regarding mental health for women – 1 in 5 of whom experience such things as anxiety, bipolarism, depression, psychosis, and schizophrenia. For men, the rate is 1 in 8.

Williams suggested that good spiritual health – that is, having a sense of hope, connection, and faith – can lead to good mental health. She said there are risk factors (such as trauma, racism, and poverty) that can adversely affect mental health and protective factors (such as relationships, faith, and community) that can safeguard mental health. Psychologically speaking, Williams said that flourishing means having “optimal mental health … a sense of positivity, joy, self-assurance, and overall well-being.” The opposite of that is “languishing … low mental health, feeling empty or stuck in life.”

Photo provided by Deacon Mel Tardy
Melanie Williams, director of diocesan mental health ministries for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, delivers a keynote address at St. Augustine Parish in South Bend on Saturday, October 18.

Good mental health, Williams said, requires “spiritual strength … an infusion of grace that can lead to perseverance and resilience through the trials of life.” She offered Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a prime example of spiritual strength for women today. In closing, Williams called upon the Holy Spirit to teach all those gathered to humbly say yes to God as Mary did.

Following small group discussions during lunch, Williams fielded a variety of questions, including: how to encourage loved ones with mental health concerns to acknowledge their need for professional help; how to overcome barriers to professional help (for example, guilt, cost, structural racism, and lack of transportation); and how to find help for caregivers of those facing mental health challenges. The closing discussion allowed the women gathered to share ideas for affordable resources as well as resources that might address some particular concerns of women of color.