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What exactly is the Church's stance regarding suicide? Obviously, any person who does it would either be a religious fanatic such as terrorist extremists or someone who has reached such a state of disillusionment that they see no way out. It's not always possible for people who are disillusioned to always keep their focus on Christ and not to lose hope especially when it seems prayer is futile. Very often it's an indictment on society itself, the apathy of people, cruelty and depression that may lead to such an act. Do such people automatically lose their salvation or could they be saved if they weren't in their sound and sober senses? Or should we just leave judgment to God? An interesting case is that of a young girl here in Cyprus who committed suicide last year after she was molested by a priest. In such a case wouldn't it be unfair if she was condemned and all he had to do was repent and confess?
Answer to Question 547 The church condemns suicide because for someone to take his own life it means that he believes that he is beyond help and that even God can’t help him. It is then a rejection of God himself by refusing to allow God into his life to save him. God is the Source and Giver of life—life which is sustained by the Holy Spirit, Who dwells within each of us. Thus to wilfully take one’s life, is to wilfully cut oneself off from the Source of one’s life, to project a sense of hopelessness that cannot be reversed, even by God. Our faith teaches us that, no matter how hopeless our plight in life may seem, with God there is always cause to have hope. Our lives are not our own but, rather, a gift from God, a sacred gift entrusted to us, which must be used wisely, nurtured lovingly, and accepted thankfully, regardless of the difficulties one may encounter. As such, our life is not ours to take, any more than taking the life of another is ours to take. In recent years we do bury those who commit suicide because the canons of the church has given us a loophole which allows us to bury someone who has taken his own life because of diminished capacities. In other words if at that moment he was not acting in a clear and conscious manner, being overcome by darkness or intense mental or emotional illness. In Cyprus the coroner who performs the autopsy never writes that the cause of death was suicide, but gives some other suitable cause which allows the church to use the loophole and perform a Christian burial. But whether the person who commits suicide is saved or not, that is in God's judgement
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