The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Vancouver says Archbishop Raymond Roussin has been suffering from a clinical depression for several years and is retiring from his post.
Archbishop J. Michael Miller assumed responsibility for the archdiocese yesterday.
Archbishop Roussin, 69, said in an interview that learning to cope with depression led him to reassess his calling as a priest.
"I believe my call is from God and to be a bishop, to be a pastor," he said. "I was unable to do it - and all the rest of the things that come to blind you when you become neurotic, or what I call the dark street."
He said his depression began several years ago.
"It was a time that I just couldn't see clearly what I had done that was good, and I could not see anything clearly possible for the future.
"Once I became a bishop, I could see I had more power ... but the power had to be lived through my emptiness, relying totally on the spirit of God - God Himself if you wish," he said.
"In the back of it all, as I went along, I sensed myself becoming stronger and I could sense people understanding me more. I've come out of the hole to a great degree."
Coming through that "dark street," he said, has allowed him to become a more compassionate person.
Archbishop Roussin said he is confident about turning his role over to Archbishop Miller.
"He is an energetic man with a great vision for Vancouver, particularly with respect to schools, health care and pastoral planning, which is surely a realization of the synod directives," Archbishop Roussin said.
"I pray that God will grant him continued strength and draw the diocese ever closer to Christ's only way."
Archbishop Miller, 62, called Archbishop Roussin a "great teacher."
"His simplicity and prayerfulness, his patience in the face of adversity and his courage in the public forum will leave a lasting impression as a gentle pastor of souls," Archbishop Miller said.
"The archdiocese has been richly blessed by his ministry."
The Vatican said yesterday that the Pope has accepted the archbishop's retirement, citing the article of canon law that allows bishops to retire because of illness or some other issue that makes them unable to carry out their duties.
Archbishop Roussin disclosed his depression in a letter to Catholics in Vancouver in August, 2005, explaining that he decided to be frank about his illness to help remove some of the stigma "wrongly and unfortunately" associated with the disease.
Archbishop Roussin told The Canadian Press yesterday that he went public with his depression to show it "was not the destruction of my life, although it could have been."
Archbishop Roussin was born in Saint Boniface, Man., and studied for the priesthood at Switzerland's University of Fribourg, where he was ordained in 1970. He was first named a bishop in 1995 in Gravelbourg, Sask., and he became bishop of Victoria four years later. He was installed as archbishop of Vancouver on Feb. 17, 2004.
Archbishop Roussin was the first archbishop of Vancouver to issue an apology for the treatment of First Nations people in residential schools.
During his time in Vancouver, the archdiocese release said, Archbishop Roussin was noted for his humble manner and deeply spiritual approach to ministry, as well as for publicly acknowledging his own struggle with depression.
Archbishop Roussin said teaching young people has been one of the highlights of his career.
"Our young people, I think, have difficulty believing in God in many places," he said. "I know I reached a good number of them because of my attitude toward them."
The new archbishop received a master's degree in divinity from the University of St. Michael's College. He was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI in 1975 and earned a doctorate in theology in 1979 from the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University.
Pope John Paul II appointed him Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education a few years later and he was ordained archbishop at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in 2004.
He worked at the Holy See until his appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of Vancouver on June 1, 2007.