Suicide (The Catholic View)

We learned today of a death by suicide in the family of a fellow missionary here. The family member was connected to the Catholic church. Sadly, Catholicism views death by suicide as the ultimate sin and certain to bring eternal damnation. This leaves the family who remains to grieve without hope, without comfort from the church and without reassurance that the person they loved will live a better life in heaven than the "hell" they chose to escape on Earth. This view is held in the Roman Catholic church and in the traditional Mayan Catholic church here in Mexico, and it makes me so sad.

While we protestants do not discount that the act of suicide is, by definition, choosing to kill one of God's children, I hope we do a better job of leaving open the possibility for God to judge the person on the merits of their whole life and not just their final act. But perhaps more importantly, I hope that we can and do reach out with loving compassion and support for the families of those whose lives have been touched by suicide.

As a personal and religious practice, we try hard to fight the temptation to fall into the denomination-bashing that happens here between protestants and Catholics and between protestant denominations in the US. When it comes to this issue though, it's really tough. For Hernan's family, we ask that you join us in praying that they are comforted by those around them and by their belief in a loving and forgiving God. For all of us, let us strive to watch for and render comfort to those in our midst who may be so despondent as to consider suicide as the only means of relief.