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Good morning Father Angelo,

I would like to ask you something because, sadly, this is something that often happens nowadays… When somebody commits suicide, is it a given that they go to Hell or could it be that God, taking into consideration their state of despair that nobody assumed responsibility for, grants them mercy?

I thank you and I will pray for you.

May the Virgin always sustain you in your Ministry.

Alessandra

Priest’s answer

Dear Alessandra, 

1. The first redeeming criterion to enter Paradise is not God’s mercy, because we always have that – it is eternal.
The criterion is the state of grace. 

2. The state of grace consists in living in communion with God, in a way that is conformed to His will, purified of every grave sin through sacramental Confession.
Those who live in a state of grace have God personally in their hearts. 

3. We lose our state of grace with every mortal sin.
Through it, we move away from God and lose His personal presence.
Sometimes it is possible to physically perceive that we have caused a rift. 

4. The state of grace is re-established through sincere repentance and sacramental Confession. 

5. It follows from these premises that a person who commits suicide puts himself in a very dangerous position.
With their gesture, somebody who commits suicide refuses God’s loving and sovereign lordship on their life and establishes himself as his own arbiter. 

6. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says about suicide: “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.” (CCC 2280).

7. “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.” (CCC 2281).

8. Using different wording, the CCC reiterates the perpetual doctrine of the Church and declares that, in itself, suicide causes one to lose his state of grace and prevents him from entering Heaven. 

9. The Catechism adds: “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.” (CCC 2282).

10. After having reminded us of the gravity of this sin, the CCC considers the other two criteria that qualify a sin as mortal: full knowledge of its gravity and full consent of the sinner’s will.
For this reason, it adds: “Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide” (CCC 2282).
It is because of the abovementioned disturbances that the Church celebrates funeral services for those who commit suicide – something that wasn’t done in the past.
This remark is very precious. 

11. Regarding the eternal salvation of these souls, the CCC says that “By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance.” (CCC 2283).
The “salutary repentance” implies profound sorrow for the action taken and the desire to be able to confess it.
If these two conditions for “salutary repentance” are present, they bring the person back to a state of grace, even if they cannot physically get to Confession. 

12. This doesn’t mean that the CCC says that people who commit suicide go to Heaven, just like it doesn’t say they go to Hell.
It simply says that “we should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives.” (CCC 2283). 

13. This also applies to people who decide to carry out this act rationally and with full responsibility.
Their situation is, of course, particularly dangerous because we are talking about a matter of seconds and we cannot know what can happen inside them in that very short lapse of time.
For this reason, “the Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.” (CCC 2283) by offering both religious funeral services and all other suffrages. 

I wish you well, bless you and remember you in my prayers.

Father Angelo