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Sirach14
Guest
Can a Catholic who committed suicide receive a funeral Mass?
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Veronica_Anne
Guest
Yes! Absolutely!!!
WE ALL are in need of prayers to be said for us after we have died for no matter what our cause of death, we just might be in Purgatory.
No greater prayer than the Mass!!
P.S. My mother, when her father committed suicide, was a total wreck because of it. She was SURE that he went straight to Hell because he had committed suicide.
Her priest’s response? A swift, no-doubts-about-it answer:
“How DARE you presume that your father went to Hell? how DARE you presume that your father is outside the reach of God’s mercy? How DARE you assume that your father didn’t — at the last moment – wish he hadn’t done what he did that was causing him to die?”
Straightened my mom’s fears up right away!!
So, yes, she had a Mass said for her father.
Please pray for my grandfather and my mother, who has since died, as well. My father, too. And my aunt, too.
Thanks!!
WE ALL are in need of prayers to be said for us after we have died for no matter what our cause of death, we just might be in Purgatory.
No greater prayer than the Mass!!
P.S. My mother, when her father committed suicide, was a total wreck because of it. She was SURE that he went straight to Hell because he had committed suicide.
Her priest’s response? A swift, no-doubts-about-it answer:
“How DARE you presume that your father went to Hell? how DARE you presume that your father is outside the reach of God’s mercy? How DARE you assume that your father didn’t — at the last moment – wish he hadn’t done what he did that was causing him to die?”
Straightened my mom’s fears up right away!!
So, yes, she had a Mass said for her father.
Please pray for my grandfather and my mother, who has since died, as well. My father, too. And my aunt, too.
Thanks!!
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Benedictus
Guest
Historically, people who committed suicide were almost always refused a Catholic funeral. Now, a priest is permitted to give such a person a Catholic funeral if he has reason to believe there were extenuating circumstances (e.g., mental illness). In general, someone who commits suicide should not be given a Catholic funeral.
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BLB_Oregon
Guest
Actually, I believe the current thinking is that the deceased should always be given the benefit of the doubt, if any exists at all.
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Chris_Jacobsen
Guest
No. Someone who commits suicide is not entiled to a Catholic funeral.
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BLB_Oregon
Guest
Chris Jacobsen:
Here are a few quotes from the catechism:
As you said “Suicide… is gravely contrary to the just love of self… offends love of neighbor… is contrary to love for the living God.”…
“If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal.”
However, it also says
"Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish th responsibility of the one committing suicide…
“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 repentence. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.”
I don’t want to scold, but I wouldn’t use the word “entitled”. As Thomas Merton put it, “We become saints not by the conviction that we are better than sinners, but by the realization that we are one of them, and that all together we need the mercy of God.”
Here are a few quotes from the catechism:
As you said “Suicide… is gravely contrary to the just love of self… offends love of neighbor… is contrary to love for the living God.”…
“If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal.”
However, it also says
"Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish th responsibility of the one committing suicide…
“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 repentence. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.”
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George2
Guest
I think suicides may now be granted xian funeral masses and xian burial.
I also agree that it is improved theology to not presume that all the intentions of the deceased and their culpability (ie.mental illness) can be known.
I was taught that it is up to the discretion of the priest.
Now if a sane Catholic chose to publicize their suicide with a Dr. Kevorkian type, that would be scandalous. I don’t doubt a priest would be remiss in refusing that.
This is one for a canon lawyer or priest.
I also agree that it is improved theology to not presume that all the intentions of the deceased and their culpability (ie.mental illness) can be known.
I was taught that it is up to the discretion of the priest.
Now if a sane Catholic chose to publicize their suicide with a Dr. Kevorkian type, that would be scandalous. I don’t doubt a priest would be remiss in refusing that.
This is one for a canon lawyer or priest.
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