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*http://www.cuf.org/Faithfacts/details_view.asp?ffID=264 * *Excerpt * *May someone who commits suicide receive a Catholic funeral?** *In the past, people who committed suicide were often denied a Church funeral. This was not a judgment of the deceased’s eternal destiny (indeed, the Church has always offered Masses for those who have committed suicide). Rather, a Church funeral was denied to the deceased in order to avoid giving scandal to the faithful and to emphasize the grave nature of suicide. As in the past, the Church teaches that suicide is and always will be objectively and gravely wrong. At the same time, today she better understands the psychological disturbances that may influence a suicide and thus mitigate personal culpability. This being the case, those who take their life are now typically provided funerals (cf. *Catechism*, no. 2282). * * *May divorced and remarried Catholics receive a Catholic funeral? *As with persons who had committed suicide, persons who had remarried outside the Church were often denied a Catholic funeral. Again, this was to avoid giving scandal to the faithful and to prevent the faithful from taking the matter lightly. 2 The Church now generally allows Catholic funerals and burials to those who have divorced and remarried. This discipline of allowing funerals does not change the Church’s doctrine: Divorce and remarriage without an annulment is and always will be objectively wrong. (For more on the Church’s teaching on divorce and remarriage, please see our Faith Fact on the subject.) Ends -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
