In the 1990s,
Pope John Paul II approved the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, which acknowledged the role that mental illnesses may play in suicide.
[14] Regarding the effect of psychological disorders on a person's culpability, the Catechism states that:
Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.[15]
Despite the fact that historical Catholic doctrine (possibly influenced by the
Baltimore Catechism which was used until the 1960s
[16]) generally considered suicide to be a
mortal sin, the Catholic Church rejected this conclusion with the introduction of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
[17] which declared that:
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.
The Catholic Church defines suicide very narrowly to avoid the extrapolation that
Jesus's death was a type of suicide, brought about by his own choices, and to avoid the idea that Catholic
martyrs choosing death is a valid form of suicide. Instead, Catholics give praise that Jesus resisted suicide throughout his trials, demonstrating that no degradation is so great that suicide can be justified. Martyrs are honored for the same reason.
[6]