Bishop Conley credits Rosary with helping him through depression

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, told those at the Diocese of Wichita’s second annual Family Rosary Rally on Oct. 18 that praying the Rosary helped carry him through clinical depression. The bishop’s testimony was one of several that spoke to the power of the Rosary.

“The one prayer that really kept me linked was the Rosary,” Bishop Conley said of the 11 months he spent on medical leave, according to the Catholic Advance, the diocese’s newspaper.

Bishop Conley said he was diagnosed with clinical depression after dealing with the fallout of the sexual abuse crisis. He took a leave of absence in December 2019, staying at a retreat center in the Diocese of Phoenix. For 11 months, he leaned on the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the rosary. 

“I’d always go out and pray the rosary,” the bishop recalled. “Even if I wasn’t able to meditate on those mysteries very well, I was able to … say those prayers of Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and that kept me going. It was almost like a chain linking me to the truth, to the goodness and beauty of our faith; when I was completely stripped away from everything else, the rosary took on a brand-new meaning for me. I never prayed the rosary the same after that.”

Bishop Conley has spoken publicly about his illness before. When he announced his return to the diocese Nov. 12, 2020, he said he had been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, chronic insomnia, and tinnitus.

The organizer of the Family Rosary Rally, Father Edmond Kline, said Nov. 6, in response to questions from Zeale News, that the event grew out of a retreat he gave on the Rosary at the Catholic Spiritual Life Center and his 2024 book, “Miracles of the Rosary & the Rosary of Miracles.” 

He asked Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita for permission to hold a rally, and “he joyfully gave it,” Fr. Kline said. The first two rallies were held at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Wichita.

In his parish ministry, Fr. Kline has seen the Rosary’s power in promoting conversion, solidifying marriages, and producing healings. He recalled the story of a family whose newborn child became seriously ill just five days after birth and was admitted to the ICU. 

“The child would not wake up for days and consequently would not eat,” Fr. Kline recounted. “The parents went to the hospital chapel before the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle and prayed a Rosary for their daughter. When they returned to the room, the child was awake and hungry and began to eat.”

The Rosary also played a key role in his own conversion, bringing him back to the sacraments after 20 years away from them. 

At this year’s rally, attendees heard from Erin and Alex Flood of St. Mary Parish in Newton, Kansas, who shared their family’s path into the Church. 

Alex, who was a Protestant pastor for about a decade in St. Paul, Minnesota, was home sick, so Erin read his written testimony to the crowd. 

His conversion began with the decision to watch the movie “Fatima” during the pandemic. 

“Is it true?” he asked himself. 

“Led by the evidence of eyewitness testimony, the recent nature of the events, and the resulting impact, I concluded that the story of Fatima must be true,” he said, according to the Catholic Advance. “If true, then the conclusion demanded my response, and I, along with my wife, began to pray the rosary.” 

The family entered the Church in 2024. Erin, who said she was fearful and angry at first, described an experience in her car that left her calm and said the Rosary later helped her grow closer to Christ.

Reflecting on modern challenges, Fr. Kline told Zeale News, “What Catholics need the most is to be connected to Jesus through Mary, and this happens especially when we pray the Rosary, because when we pray the Rosary, we are meditating on the mysteries of Jesus with the eyes of Mary.” 

He noted, “Sister Lucia of Fatima said there is no problem spiritual or temporal with the Rosary cannot resolve."