The Entire Thought

Suicide: What’s A Catholic To Think?

In the past few weeks, numerous people have asked me to clarify the Catholic Church’s teaching on suicide. This teaching can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church under the general heading of the fifth commandment: You shall not kill (Exodus 20:13). This section begins as follows:
“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being"
(p. 2258).
The Church considers the fifth commandment to forbid the killing both of another person and of oneself. It considers suicide to be “seriously contrary to justice, hope and charity" (p. 2325). Let us take these three one at a time. What does it mean to be contrary to
justice?
“Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of. Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self" (p. 2280-2281).
This first reason may sound too harsh for the sentiments of our contemporary society. But please notice what the Church is not
saying. She is not saying that a person who has committed
suicide is going to Hell. She is simply saying it is contrary to the just love of self and is a violation of the fifth commandment.
Suicide may indicate that a person has abandoned the Christian virtue of hope. Various factors may affect their level of responsibility for this fateful choice. “Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering or torture can diminish the
responsibility [i.e. sinfulness] of the one committing suicide” (p. 2282). One way to interpret this is to say that the person was not in their right mind when they committed the act and God alone can be the judge.
We tend to think that a person should have the right to do
whatever they want with their body as long as it does not hurt anyone else. But as we have seen recently, suicide does in fact hurt other people. As the Catechism says, it is contrary to charity. It “offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God”
(p. 2281).
Once again, I beg you to please hear what the Church is not
saying: She is not saying that every victim of suicide goes to Hell. “We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways know to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives” (p. 2283). We pray that they will obtain the grace of sincere repentance, and we leave the final judgment in the hands of our merciful God.
Fr. Ernest Bayer

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