Bible shows evidence of depression, offers a cure, official says

Published: 2003-11-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Bible contains evidence that depression was experienced in ancient times and outlines the kind of spiritual activity needed to combat it, a Vatican official said. In particular, the hope of everlasting salvation offered by Christianity is an antidote to the fear and anguish that leads to depression, Portuguese Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins told a Vatican conference Nov. 13. "Whoever really believes in the paschal mystery of Christ and identifies with him should never be depressed," the cardinal said. In that sense, he said, "depression is not Christian, and does not belong to biblical anthropology or to the Catholic faith." Cardinal Saraiva Martins heads the Vatican's Congregation for Saints' Causes; his background is in dogmatic theology and philosophy. But at the conference on clinical depression, he offered a wide-ranging overview of depression as experienced by modern people and those in biblical times.

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