AmericanPapist Comments
Thanks for the heads-up. I was quoted accurately, which is progress in itself. The "Catholic doctrine" line is actually closer than one might think, but I certainly let it stand in light of the balance she broght to the piece as a whole. This was a controversial decision, and people should not profess surprise that there was, after all, controversy.
Clearly the man is in desperate need of prayers, so how far does Church law go in this case? Does it stop at forbidding a Mass and burial in a Catholic cemetery, or does it even forbid a priest to offer prayers at the gravesite?
Is there any recourse to formalized prayer?
I remember growing up in a small town in the Philippines were the parish priest denied a funeral rite to a woman who committed suicide. The casket was placed outside the closed (main) door of the church with grieving family members praying for mercy for the soul of the dead.
Of course, he was given a Catholic funeral out of compassion- probably for his parents and siblings etc.
But I have often thought that the real compassion lies in the direction of suicide prevention. Everything that can be done to awaken conscience and form it and cultivate in it an absolute horror of suicide should be done. Actual suicides provide wonderful occasions to form the conscience, that conscience may "make cowards of us all" when contemplating suicide.
In other words, the apparent lack of compassion on the part of a pastor refusing a Catholic burial to a suicide, may be more compassionate in its effects than the "compassion" of the pastor who permits it.
I don't know that it "creates" a scandal for the faithful. Most folks probably see nothing wrong with it and, indeed, would think it wrong not to give him a Catholic funeral. Which means that they were already scandalized before this even happened. This only reinforces such misguided but well-intentioned thinking.
If it was a funeral Mass (black vestments), then I don't think that too much should be made of it as there is a clear benefit to the grieving family and friends.
Now if it was a funeral Mass of the Resurrection (white vestments), then I think that there would be a clear case of scandal to the faithful.
I understand the conclusion that a Catholic funeral was inappropriate; what is the appropriate way for the pastor to handle this man's death?
Is it permissible to have a Mass for the repose of his soul?
And is it the suicide that presents the bar, or the multiple murders?
Several years ago a colleague committed suicide. The man had been under incredible psychological stress. As it happens(for a variety of reasons), his family did not have a formal "funeral" for him, but several friends and colleagues arranged a Mass to pray for the repose of his soul.
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