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Someone I love died by suicide. Is there hope, and can I pray for them?

Common teaching Current norm

What the Church holds

Common teaching Yes, and yes.

  • "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" (CCC 2283).
  • "Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide" (CCC 2282).
  • Current norm Suicide is not among the cases in which the Code requires a funeral to be refused (can. 1184).

What the saints and mystics report

Private revelation One witness counts a man who took his own life among the souls she saw being purified, that is, saved (VDL-04). Other accounts turn on a single moment of contrition at a sudden death (SIM-05, SIM-R1).

Accounts that bear on this

Read: When Someone Dies3 accounts on this question

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