Another Spiritual Alliance: The Pope and a Renowned Psychiatrist in India

Roy Kallivayalil, MD, and Pope Francis on March 14, 2016

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

“Relationship is the fundamental truth of this world of appearances.” - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet and philosopher

We had one psychiatrist with a mental health tribute to Pope Francis on Friday. Now, following his funeral, this one comes this time from a prominent psychiatrist in India. If you are assuming this psychiatrist is Hindu or Muslim, you would be wrong.

It is inspired by Roy Kallivayalil, MD, from the Kerala area of southern India, and he is a Roman Catholic and Syrian Christian. Here is his Facebook post on Pope Francis that he shared:

“Pope Francis was one of the most loved persons of our times. He was caring, compassionate, and loving towards all and had a special affinity for the poor, the underprivileged and the marginalized. I had the honour of meeting and discussion with him at Vatican as the Secretary General of WPA on 14th March 2016.

Pope Francis extended support to us in the efforts to prevent suicides, alcoholism, and drug abuse and to ensure social well-being. He spoke about the power of prayer which ensures changes in the mindset of the people and bring solace to the suffering and disadvantaged. The person, family, and society would be blessed with peace through prayer. May his memory live forever.”

His 10- to 15-minute meeting in Vatican City was covered in The Hindu in the article by R. Kuttoor, titled: “Pope offers help to WPA in suicide prevention.”¹ At the time, Dr Kallivayalil was Secretary General of the World Psychiatric Association. He presented his latest book, Suicide Prevention, to the Pope, who connected suicide to the fifth commandment, “Thou should not kill,” which is usually applied to killing others and not to suicide.

In relevance to our recent discussion on assisted suicide in Psychiatric Times, Pope Francis had consistently condemned assisted suicide as an unacceptable deviation form medical ethics, as Dr Komrad has done.² The Pope viewed it as a “failure of love,” the love that can be supplied in palliative care. In his 2025 New Year’s message, he called on the public to respect “natural death” and the dignity of human life.³

On the other hand, it is hard to ignore the timing of the Pope’s death, the day after Easter and Passover. Though about impossible to research, many who work with the dying seem to notice that some seemingly choose when to give up and pass away. That timing seems to coincide with resolution of some concerns about living loved ones. One of many such examples may be a patriarch dying while family members were away and celebrating another family milestone.

With today’s column, we have the first person to have 2 eulogies on them appear in Psychiatric Times. Besides myself, these came from 2 different countries and 2 different religions, affirming the global influence and love of Pope Francis.

But I think there is more to these multiple eulogies from psychiatrists. The essence of clinical psychiatry is the therapeutic alliance. During the funeral, what we heard about Pope Francis might be alternatively called a spiritual alliance. This was a spiritual connection with anybody he encountered: alive or dead, rich or poor, religious or not, old and, especially, young. No wonder, as he requested, the poor, homeless individuals, migrants, those who are disabled, prisoners, and transgender individuals lined the streets with so many others—all those special invitees who represent those at increased risk in our current American governmental policies.

You could just see it and feel it in the pictures of the Pope and our 2 psychiatrists in these tributes. We could all learn more about establishing relationships from Pope Francis and his life. Such relationship alliances are the most important social determinant of mental health, I dare to say.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

References

1. Kuttoor R. Pope offers help to WPA in suicide prevention. The Hindu. March 21, 2016. Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/pope-offers-help-to-wpa-in-suicide-prevention/article8379542.ece

2. Komrad MS. Assisted suicide should not be provided by physicians: a response to H. Steven Moffic, MD. Psychiatric Times. April 23, 2025. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/assisted-suicide-should-not-be-provided-by-physicians-a-response-to-h-steven-moffic-md

3. Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the LVIII World Day of Peace. January 1, 2025. Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/20241208-messaggio-58giornatamondiale-pace2025.html