The Art of Aging Gratefully: Learning from Religious Women – A Global Virtual Conference

Overview

This inaugural virtual event of the Global Institute for Mental Health (GIMH), a ministry of Saint Luke Institute, will be held on World Mental Health Day, October 10, 2026, from 8:30 am – 12:30 pm Eastern time. (Find the time in your time zone here.) The virtual event will lift up the way in which Catholic sisters model, resource, and respond to the needs of aging in ways that are holistic, holy, and a proven model from which everyone in the Church can learn – religious, clergy and lay.

Part of the event will be dedicated to the formal inauguration of the Global Institute for Mental Health. The GIMH’s focus is building a coordinated, global Catholic initiative on mental health that integrates evidence-based research, clinical practice, spiritual care, and Catholic identity, while strengthening collaboration across regions and nations.

It was established as an initiative of Saint Luke Institute, in partnership with the International Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers, DePaul University, and other stakeholders in response to initiatives by Pope Leo XIV and the U.S. bishops’ conference to highlight the role of mental health and wellness in the Church and in ministry. The Art of Aging Gratefully virtual event is being held in October, especially to align with the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network intention for mental health ministry.

Continuing education units (CEUs) will be available for this event through Saint Luke Institute and DePaul University. Details will be available soon. Certificates of completion will also be available.

Speakers

Keynote Presentation

Joan Chunkapura, MMS, is a member of the International Society of Catholic Medical Mission Sisters. With graduate degrees in clinical psychology, and training in family therapy and advanced psychotherapy, she has been a trainer in addiction management counseling and psychotherapy, stress management, trauma and grief work, and family and marital problems. She speaks and writes on those topics, and co-founded a rehabilitation center for people with addictions. Presently she works with a rehab center and at IHM Hospital.

Panel Presentations

Mary Clotilda Anogharu, IHM, is an Immaculate Heart of Mary sister who has served as a geriatric nurse for many years, in Italy and presently in Nigeria.

Jane Becker, OSB, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in Kentucky and Indiana and a member of consulting clinical staff at Saint Luke Center in Louisville. She is a member of the Sisters of St. Benedictine located in Ferdinand, IN. She served many years as staff psychologist at St. Meinrad Seminary, IN, and at the North American College in Rome. She has also been Director of Formation for her community, and has provided a variety of workshops and consultations to other religious communities. Sister Jane was on the staff of Saint Luke Institute in Silver Spring, MD for three years. Her clinical services include individual and group therapy, psychological assessment, and workshops in transition, community life, and communication. She completed her doctoral studies in clinical psychology at St. Louis University.

Kathleen Hope Brown, D.Min, is Director of Spirituality and Pastoral Care at the Saint Luke Institute.  She is the director of the Bon Secours Spiritual Direction Institute in Marriottsville, MD, and teaches spiritual direction in other programs throughout the country.  She has taught spirituality and spiritual direction courses at Virginia Theological Seminary, DeSales University, Marymount University, and the Washington Theological Union. Her Doctor of Ministry is from The Catholic University of America.

Registration Opening Soon! Full schedule will also be available soon.

Additional details will be forthcoming on this page, accessible through the URL SLI.org/gimh. You may sign up for email updates below or contact us at gimh@sli.org.

Sign up to receive updates below. To support this effort financially, make a donation to Saint Luke Institute and specify “in honor of the Global Institute for Mental Health.”