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Hi, Chuck —
Thank for your question.
The Church holds that the deliberate
taking of one's life as an act of
despair is a mortal sin and therefore
puts the soul into great peril, i.e.
damnation.
God, of course, is the final judge
and arbiter and knows whether the
circumstances are mitigating (severe
mental maladies, etc.) and the soul
is pardonable. We, as the faithful,
should always pray for those souls
for we cannot know the circumstances
or whether the person ever repented
in the act of dying. Here we trust
our Lord's Divine Justice and Mercy.
On a personal
note:
Keep in mind that your prayers in
the future can affect the past, in
some sense, for God is eternal and
even your future prayers are known
to Him. Therefore, your intercession
today could bear fruit towards the
salvation of someone who may already
have taken their life. God could
grant them the grace of repentance
at the last minute, even after they
have swallowed the fatal dose.
Think about it.
Peace,
Bob K.
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