The youngest son of famous US Pastor Rick Warren has committed suicide, according to a family statement released Saturday. Matthew Warren, 27, took his life following a lifelong battle with mental illness, Warren and his wife, Kay, said in the statement.
"No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now," the statement said.
In the statement, Rick Warren said his son struggled from birth with mental illness, "dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts."
"In spite of America's best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided," he wrote. "Today, after a fund evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his own life."
As a pioneer of the megachurch movement, Warren looked to translate traditional evangelical messages for a
wider audience.Rick Warren is the author of "The Purpose-Driven Life," a spiritually based self-help guide that became a mainstream best-seller.
