Doug,

The short answer to your question is, only God knows. What we do know is that if someone dies with conscious, unrepentant mortal sin, they have rejected God, which will continue for all eternity (in Hell). To be guilty of mortal sin three components must be present:

1. The act must be a grave matter
2. The person must have full knowledge (of its wrongness)
3. and have a deliberate consent of the will.

It is at least possible that a suicide victim was not in their right mind (hence, no knowledge)
or under such duress that their personal freedom was lacking (full consent was absent).
Only God knows the extent to which the degree of knowledge or consent was present.

Also, one could surmise that it is also possible for a person to truly repent in their last minute or seconds of their life after the fatal blow was incurred. God could accept such repentance if it is genuine.

So with all the internal dynamics that are possible, we cannot know if a person has, or has not, attained salvation. Therefore, the Church does allow for funerals and Catholic burials for suicide victims.

Paul

Hi, Doug —

First, let me say that I am sorry for your loss. We can never know the mental state of any individual who is thinking about taking their life.

If we sense something is wrong, what we can do is share with them the great value of their life and how everyone of us was created for a specific purpose in order to touch and better the lives of other people . . . no matter how much of a bad start we have had.

God is the expert at taking bad situations and turning them into great outcomes.

If you do sense someone is thinking about taking their life and you don't feel competent enough to talk to (him or her), get some help @:

1 800 273-8255 (TALK), or @

SuicidePreventionLifeLine.org

Hope this helps,

Mike