Suicide a Sin or Not?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tyson
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tyson

Guest
I know that the church teaches that suicide is a sin. Im wondering if one repents prior to taking ones life that gains purgatory or is it still straight to hell?
 
How can you truly repent of a sin and go ahead and do it anyway? True repentence requires purpose of amendment and avoidance of future sin.

Suicide goes so much against the basic desire to preserve one’s life that there has to be some serious mental imbalance to carry it out. At the last minute, many back out because they ARE sane. For this reason, the Church has changed its rules as it became more aware of psychological factors in suicide. Now a suicide can have a Church burial.

But you can’t apologize to God for something and then go do it.
That is not a sincere apology. It also borders on the sin of presumption. That God will forgive you anyway. In any case, you’re risking Hell, either for despair, presumption or final impenitence.
 
I don’t have my catechism in front of me but I believe it says we are not to give up hope that the victim of suicide can be saved. So no, it’s not automatic hell. We have to take into account the pschological state of the person to determine culpability and that may be something only God knows for sure.
 
Most people who committ suicide are in extreme mental and emotional pain - this may be sufficient to either lessen their sin to a venial sin or remove any guilt altogether.

Of course sincere and perfect contrition (motivated by love of God above all else) will remit the guilt of suicide or any other mortal sin, in cases where the person is unable to confess prior to death of course.

We entrust those who take their own lives to God’s mercy, but we can’t be certain of the fate of any of them individually.
 
The way I heard is that is a sin to kill yourself. However someone not in their right mind cannot sin & who in their right mind would kill themselves.🤷 I’ll sit back, watch this thread & see what develops.
 
Liberanosamalo said:
How can you truly repent of a sin and go ahead and do it anyway? True repentence requires purpose of amendment and avoidance of future sin.

Suicide goes so much against the basic desire to preserve one’s life that there has to be some serious mental imbalance to carry it out. At the last minute, many back out because they ARE sane. For this reason, the Church has changed its rules as it became more aware of psychological factors in suicide. Now a suicide can have a Church burial.

But you can’t apologize to God for something and then go do it.
That is not a sincere apology. It also borders on the sin of presumption. That God will forgive you anyway. In any case, you’re risking Hell, either for despair, presumption or final impenitence.
Click to expand...
There’s a story of St John Vianney counselling a woman whose husband had committed suicide by jumping off a bridge into the local river. He said ‘don’t worry, madam, he repented between the bridge and the water’ :eek:

I think the idea is that even after having chosen to go ahead and kill oneself, one can still have a change of heart in the time between the doing of the deed and actual death.
 
Lily, you’re right. Except it takes longer for a body to fall from a bridge than for a bullet to fly. So the method does matter.

I had heard that St. John Vianney story also. Good example.👍
 
Suicide
[2280](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/2280.htm’)😉 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.
[2281](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/2281.htm’)😉 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. It likewise 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.
[2282](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/2282.htm’)😉 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.
[2283](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/2283.htm’)😉 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.
 
tyson said:
I know that the church teaches that suicide is a sin. Im wondering if one repents prior to taking ones life that gains purgatory or is it still straight to hell?
Click to expand...
Objectively it is a mortal sin, but just as with everyone who dies, only God can judge the final resting place of souls. We can hope that the person who committed suicide either somehow wasn’t culpable or that he repented before he died.
 
tyson said:
I know that the church teaches that suicide is a sin. Im wondering if one repents prior to taking ones life that gains purgatory or is it still straight to hell?
Click to expand...
Here is the current Catechism on this subject:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

2280 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.

2281 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. It likewise 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.

2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.

Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.

2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

…And here is a prayer I say every day, from the book DEVOTION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, by Tan Books…

“O Holy Spirit, Who art God together with the Father and the Son, deliver us this day from sadness and discouragement; preserve all Christians from despair and its fatel results. To all, even to those who dystroy their own lives, or who may be overtaken by a sudden or violent death, mercifully grant both time and grace to make an act of perfect contrition. Amen”:byzsoc:
 
Lily M wrote:

“Of course sincere and perfect contrition (motivated by love of God above all else) will remit the guilt of suicide or any other mortal sin, in cases where the person is unable to confess prior to death of course.”

I can actually understand how someone could make a “perfect” act of contrition and still kill oneself. Of course, in the light of reason it makes no sense, but…

I suffer from chronic major depression and fibromyalgia. Before the depression was diagnosed and medicated, I fully intended to kill myself. My plan involved some effort, since I didn’t want to make trouble for my heirs by decomposing in my house or car, nor did I want my 8 large dogs to suffer.

However, since fibro and depression both involve fatigue, I also had what amounts to chronic fatigue disorder, and that prevented my suicide until my prayers were answered with the specific message: “This is not normal. Go to the urgent care clinic.” (I was also told that God wants to see me on His time, not mine. I was not yet Catholic, so this teaching was new to me.)

My point is, I loved God with all the love I was capable of back then, and I knew that He loved me. In that diseased state, I could have made an act of contrition, if I had known what one was, or what it meant. Not perfect, because my mind was diseased, but from the bottom of my disordered heart.

Now I look back on those days with great gratitude to my Lord, who brought me through it unscathed, and eventually brought me into His church. It has left me with utmost compassion for the depressed, and especially the suicidal.

As my DH, whom I met shortly after these events, and I like to say, “Coincidence is just God remaining anonymous.”
 
People with mental disorders need a huge amount of understanding and compassion. What may lead someone to suicide is a long set of evils and injustices done against them, combined with lack of charity, understanding, and compassion by those nearest to them, combined with a sense of helplessness and despair, along with a grave mental impairment. While it is a horrible thing do ever take one’s life, I am sure God’s mercy extends all the more to those who suffered terribly in this life, and would provide a means of salvation to those who could in any way be saved.
 
In the 1300s there was a nun who jumped out of her window rather than being raped who became a saint… I am sure one of you great readers of the saints will know this story. She saw her purity/chastity with God threatened. It was seen as martrydom I think.
 
Well I think when we all get to the other side, we’ll all know that answer. It’s a tricky one for our minds.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top