Staff of Saint Luke Institute (SLI) from Silver Spring and Baltimore, Maryland, gathered with over 200 bishops from across the country at a breakfast sponsored by SLI at the Plenary Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore. The breakfast was held on November 11.
The event provided an opportunity for bishops to hear first-hand about the integrated mental health and spiritual care services available to priests, seminiarians, deacons, as well as women and men religious at SLI, while providing time for them to meet and greet SLI staff and ask questions or receive consultations. SLI’s bishop-advisor Most Rev. Mitchell Rozanski, Ordinary of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, welcomed his brothers with an opening prayer and gratitude to SLI for our work in providing comprehensive mental wellness and spiritual care to clergy and religious. Rev Patrick McDevitt, CM, PhD, President & CEO of Saint Luke Institute, spoke about the range of SLI’s therapeutic services, including our long-term care Emmaus Program, which embraces “a wellness outpatient form of care,” with integrated spiritual renewal, bringing together the best of contemporary medical and psychological approaches and long-standing spiritual practices in the Catholic tradition. He also noted the Emmaus Program “opens our clients to the circle of care with our community care partners – our local religious communities where our clients live, receive support and oversight, and participate in prayers, meals, and activities with an active apostolic community.” Fr. McDevitt’s full remarks are below.
“The breakfast was an excellent opportunity for SLI to share directly with our bishops the depth of experience and dedication to the mental health and well-being of clergy and religious that SLI has had for nearly fifty years now, as well as the positive outcomes our comprehensive care provides,” said Marc DelMonico, Ph.D., Director of Education & Communications, who organized the event. “The room was full of bishops, some of whom have referred priests or other ministers to the care of SLI; others who were learning for the first time or becoming re-acquainted with the quality care we provide. Fr. Pat and our clinicians spent time quality time at table with them, answering their questions and finding out how SLI can suppor them” he added.
Bishops also learned of SLI’s upcoming in-person Conference on Human Formation co-sponsored with St. Meinrad’s Seminary & School of Theology in the summer of 2026 through an ad in their Plenary Assembly program.
Remarks of SLI President & CEO, Rev. Patrick McDevitt, CM, PhD at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops Plenary Meeting
SLI Sponsored Breakfast – November 11, 2025
Your Eminences and Your Excellencies, Good morning!
I am pleased to introduce myself. I am Fr. Patrick McDevitt, a Vincentian priest, and I have the honor and privilege of being the new president of Saint Luke Institute!
SLI fosters healthy ministers for a vibrant Church and healed world. We have almost 50 years of providing mental health and spiritual life treatment, as well as health and wellness education to clergy, and to men and women religious. Throughout our 50 years, SLI has innovated and adapted with the changing needs of the Church with the most up-to-date research and best practices in the mental health profession at affordable rates.
There continues to be in our society and in the Church stigma and shame attached to mental health crises. This is compounded by rising costs and the lack of accessibility to good mental health care. Our Emmaus Program is a full-time multidisciplinary and an integrative approach to mental health and spiritual care. The Emmaus Program de-institutionalizes mental health care that lessens the stigma and shame. The program also opens our clients to the circle of care with our community care partners – our local religious communities where our clients live, receive support and oversight, and participate in prayers, meals, and activities with an active apostolic community. We are in frequent contact with our partners about our clients, and we receive updates from clients on their living situation.
SLI emphasizes a wellness outpatient form of care. Research shows no significant difference in clinical efficacy outcomes between inpatient and outpatient treatment modalities for non-acute cases. However, research also shows a significant difference between inpatient and outpatient treatment in the areas of affordability – outpatient is less expensive – and post-treatment re-entry; our outpatient clients have a commitment to Continuing Care following discharge, as well as lower recidivism rates for relapse when compared to inpatient modalities. Finally, the Emmaus Program client census ranges from 6-10 clients which means our clients receive a high level of personalized attention and care.
In addition to the Emmaus Program, SLI offers a comprehensive initial clinical evaluation with recommendations for care, candidate assessments for priesthood, diaconate and religious life, individual and group outpatient care and spiritual direction – in some cases online – and proactive wellness education – in-person and online.
With many options to meet a variety of wellness needs, I invite you to seriously consider SLI as a partner and support for clergy, religious and others in leadership and ministry. If you would like to discuss the Emmaus Program or any of our offerings, please feel free to contact me. I am also happy to be available to you for any type of consultation.
Thank you for your leadership and tremendous service to our Church. God Bless you and the people you serve!