Pastoral Care

Many kinds of help are available for addiction and substance abuse, including self-education, self-help groups and professional therapy.  

Please share the following resources with those in your community in need: 

• Catholic Charities Atlanta
• Georgia Al-Anon and Alateen Family Groups
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

Adoption support is available through Springs of Love, which helps Catholics discern their call to foster and adopt.

Additional resources are available from the USCCB and Respect Life Ministry.   

Online bereavement ministry training is available through our partnership with the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers (CMHM). The program, called “Accompanying Those Who Mourn,” is a training designed for parish and Catholic community leaders who want to start or further a bereavement ministry. 

Additional Bereavement Resources 

• Beginning Experience: a national weekend program for adults
• Catholic Charities Atlanta counseling services
• Compassionate Friends: support for families after the death of a child
• Rainbows: supports children and youth who are grieving due to death, divorce or another painful transition

Catholic Burial Traditions

Catholic Burial Traditions provides free digital and printed resources with an in-depth catechesis on Catholic burials.  

More information is also available on the Liturgy and Worship webpage.  

• Holy Family Counseling Center
• Transfiguration Counseling Center
• Catholic Charities Atlanta

• Divorced Catholic: programs and books for divorced Catholics to help them get their life back on track and move forward with hope and confidence.
• Life-Giving Wounds: a Catholic ministry for adult children of divorce or separation
• Recovering From Divorce Online: provides “foundation sessions” for free to assist individuals in the beginning of their healing journey after a separation or divorce.
• Separated Faithful: a group that meets monthly to discuss the ongoing seven stages from the book,” The Gift of Self: A Spiritual Companion for Separated and Divorced Faithful to the Sacrament of Marriage.”
• Witness to Marriage: an association for divorced and separated Catholics who have not received declarations of nullity and strive to be faithful to God and his church.

Witness to Marriage Resource List

Patterns of domestic violence or abuse of any kind between married couples, dating relationships or child abuse, are often learned in families. Unless something changes, these patterns can be repeated in generations. 

Victims are encouraged to make a safety plan and to take necessary steps to keep themselves and children as safe as possible.  

You are not alone. Resources and support are available. 

• ALWAYS CALL 911 AND/OR THE POLICE IF YOU ARE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233)
• Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence (GCADV)
• Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV)
• Catholics for Family Peace: an initiative that helps Catholics promote peace within families and respond compassionately to domestic abuse
• Caminar Latino: 404-413-6348 (Spanish)
• Catholic Charities Atlanta: for immigrants, refugees and asylees
• When I Call for Help – a pastoral response from the USCCB

National Hotlines for Parents and Children 

• Boystown National Hotline: 1-800-448-3000
• Childhelp USA, National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453

• Person and Identity Project (PIP): assists the Catholic Church in promoting the Catholic vision of the human person and responding to the challenges of gender ideology. Provides toolkits and resources for parishes in English and Spanish.
• Courage: a spiritual fellowship group for men and women who experience same-sex attraction. Members strengthen each other to live out the teachings of the Catholic Church.
• Encourage: provides support for families and friends of people with same-sex attraction and/or gender dysphoria. In many cases, their loved ones identify as LGBTQ+ and no longer practice the faith. Meetings occur monthly in Atlanta. Contact Steve at 903-686-3211 or email courageatlanta@gmail.com.
• Eden Invitation: creates spaces to receive the whole person, grow systems of mutual support and empower others to live as mature Christian disciples. We are disciples with LGBTQ+ experiences, building community who desire a way of life in congruence with Christ and his church.

PATH offers confidential consultation, Bible studies and retreats to assist you in your healing journey after an abortion. They can also recommend a priest who will receive you with the merciful heart of Jesus in the sacrament of reconciliation. 

Military Outreach USA is a faith-based organization founded to encourage, engage, educate and equip individuals and churches to support the military community, including active guards, veterans and their families.  

Parishes can enroll in a Military Caring Network as a Caring Parish or organization to receive resources, programs, webinars and publications. There is no cost for parishes. 

Find information and resources on the Respect Life Ministry webpage of the archdiocesan website. 

There is not one solution for addressing a pornography addiction. We encourage using a combination of the following resources. 

• Angelic Warfare Confraternity: for prayers and purity devotion
• Covenant Eyes: provides tools for parish leaders for those in your parish who are struggling
• “Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography:” by the USCCB
• Counseling services: available on this webpage
• Fortify: a web-based program that uses the brain science behind a pornography addiction to help people find a path to freedom
• Frequent the Sacraments: particularly reconciliation and the Eucharist
• RECLAIM Sexual Health: an anonymous, science-based, Catholic online recovery program
• Theology of the Body: information provided by Respect Life Ministry on the archdiocesan website

If you are considering suicide, call the 24/7 national suicide and crisis lifeline at 988. 

The American Federation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP) seeks to raise awareness and provide support to those affected by suicide.