Therapeutic Gospel: Arlington’s False Shepherd Peddles Secular Psychology
The EWTN News portal (February 4, 2026) reports on a pastoral letter issued by “Bishop” Michael Burbidge of the Arlington “diocese,” addressing what he terms a “crisis” in mental health among Catholics. The article highlights his call to reduce stigma around seeking psychological counseling, promote “Christian-oriented” therapy, and build community through post-conciliar programs like “That Man Is You.” Burbidge claims suffering can be a “path to holiness” but frames mental health through secular therapeutic categories rather than the Church’s perennial teaching on sin, grace, and redemption.
Naturalism Masquerading as Pastoral Care
Burbidge’s letter reduces the human person to a psychological subject rather than imago Dei (image of God) wounded by original sin. By stating that “1 in 5 American adults experience mental health challenges” and citing the National Alliance on Mental Illness—a secular body—he adopts a materialist framework incompatible with Catholic anthropology. Quas Primas (1925) declares Christ’s kingship over all creation, including the mind: “His kingdom is such that men prepare themselves through repentance” (Pius XI). The letter’s silence on demonic influence (e.g., acedia, scrupulosity) and the necessity of sacramental confession exposes its naturalism.
Father Charles Sikorsky’s assertion that “psychology is the science of the soul” distorts St. Thomas Aquinas’ distinction between the anima rationalis (rational soul) and empirical psychology. The Syllabus of Errors condemns the idea that “human reason is the sole arbiter of truth” (Prop. 3). By praising Divine Mercy University’s integration of “spirituality” with clinical therapy, the article promotes syncretism. Authentic Catholic asceticism, as taught by St. John of the Cross, requires purification through detachment—not self-affirmation techniques.
Communion Replaced With Conciliar “Community”
The article lauds Burbidge’s post-COVID “community-building initiatives,” including Bible studies and men’s groups. This substitutes the supernatural communion of saints with horizontal collectivism. Lamentabili Sane (1907) condemns the modernist error that “faith develops in man… by the progressive conscience” (Prop. 22). True communion flows from the Mass and sacraments, not social clubs. The “isolation” decried by Burbidge stems not from lack of programming but from the conciliar sect’s destruction of the sacramental order through invalid rites and indifferentism.
Burbidge’s claim that “you’re a child of God—that never changes” while urging Catholics to “not identify yourself with suffering” ignores the redemptive value of the Cross. St. Paul writes, “Adimpleo ea quae desunt passionum Christi in carne mea” (“I fill up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His Body,” Col 1:24). The article’s therapeutic language (“balanced life,” “healthy relationships”) echoes the condemned proposition that “the Church is incapable of defending evangelical ethics” (Vatican I, Dei Filius).
The Pseudo-Consolation of a Church in Apostasy
When Burbidge states suffering “can be united to the Lord’s” yet recommends secular counseling, he epitomizes the conciliar double-speak condemned by St. Pius X: “They affirm everything and deny everything” (Pascendi, 6). The U.S. “bishops’” 2025 “Healing and Hope” campaign—cited approvingly—declares “nobody can diminish your God-given dignity” while refusing to denounce the sins (fornication, contraception, gender confusion) that devastate mental health. This is the “mercy without repentance” prophesied by Our Lady at Akita.
The article’s fixation on “stigma reduction” reveals its alignment with the world. “Amicus mundi inimicus Dei” (“The friend of the world is the enemy of God,” Jas 4:4). Where are the warnings against New Age mindfulness or Freudian therapies that pathologize guilt—a grace prompting conversion? Where is the call to Eucharistic reparation or devotion to the Sorrowful Heart of Mary? Burbidge offers a gospel of emotional well-being, not the via crucis. As Archbishop Lefebvre warned: “They have replaced the Cross with psychology.”
Omission as Heresy: What the Article Conceals
Nowhere does Burbidge mention Satan—the “father of lies” (Jn 8:44)—whose assaults intensify as the conciliar sect collapses. The Rituale Romanum (1947) mandates exorcisms for depression rooted in diabolic oppression, not antidepressants. The article omits that Freud—founder of modern psychotherapy—called religion a “neurosis.” Pius XII’s 1953 discourse to psychiatrists insisted that therapy must submit to the “absolute sovereignty of Christ.”
Most damningly, Burbidge ignores the primary cause of mental anguish: loss of sanctifying grace. When sacraments like Confession are invalidated by Novus Ordo “absolutions,” souls starve. St. Alphonsus Liguori teaches that peace comes only through “a good confession.” The article’s vision of “holiness” devoid of penance, mortification, and fear of hell is Pelagianism rebranded for the therapy generation.
Source:
Bishop offers guidance amid ‘staggering’ mental health crisis, especially among the young (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 04.02.2026