International Men’s Health Week runs from Monday June 14 through to Sunday June 20 this year, and the idea has been welcomed by the Knights of St Columbanus.
The focus this year is on ‘making the connections’, which encourages men to rebuild the relationships that were put on pause due to the pandemic.
“Men’s health is not just an issue for individual men,” the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland’s website reads.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Supreme Communications Officer Colm O’Farrell emphasised the importance of “brotherhood” to men’s health.
“One of the strongest attributes of the order is being able to actually chat to each other,” Mr O’Farrell said.
The Order of Knights of St Columbanus is an all-male Catholic fraternity that seeks to promote the Faith and brotherhood, with Mr O’Farrell saying that the sense of community was essential to the wellbeing of many of its members’ throughout the pandemic.
Mental health is quite a “serious issue”, Mr O’Farrell said, and identified friendship within the order as being key to maintaining their health.
“Friendships were formed throughout it (the pandemic). We noticed mental health during the lockdown,” he said, continuing “we had different brothers in the order asking us, ‘When can we meet? You know, I really want to see the guys’.
“The whole lockdown wore on a lot of them and one of the big things was the deep friendships that were formed” Mr O’Farrell explained.
“It’s all about spiritual bonding as well. For ourselves, the big thing is to make sure that no brother feels left behind. No matter what their struggles or their difficulties are in life, that fraternal brotherhood is always there to help.”
Community was fostered in the midst of the pandemic through weekly Masses over the internet, virtual coffee meetings, and a zoom beer meeting on Thursday evenings.
“These are all the things that uplift the spirits,” Mr O’Farrell said, “they keep the connection strong”.
He encouraged men of all ages to get involved in the “great outreach” that’s going on, saying that it’s benefitted the mental health of everyone involved throughout the pandemic.
“We found ourselves a lot more upbeat and a lot more positive,” he said.
Read more here – Minding men’s health