Life is a precious gift of God. It is in fact the most fundamental of His gifts without which we cannot have existence at all, neither in this world nor in the next. Without life there can be no education, employment, marriage or the exercise of one's mental powers and talents and physical skills. Life being so precious, it would be grievously wrong to wantonly destroy one's own life or another's. God's commandment "You shall not kill" (Exodus 20:13; Deut. 5:17) indicates to us the gravity of the offence of destroying human life.

At a time when the knowledge of psychology was not so developed as now, it was thought that to take one's life was a serious offence. The Church, therefore, did not give the honours of a Christian burial to a suicide. This has two reasons, first to condemn the act of self-killing and secondly as a preventive measure, that is, by underscoring the gravity of the offence to prevent others from moving towards suicide.

The Old Code states that one who has deliberately committed suicide is to be denied an ecclesiastical burial (can. 1240, sec. 1,3). The New Code, however, does not include suicides among those to whom a Church funeral is not permitted (Can. 1184).

In the case of moral conclusions, the Church has to be guided by the findings of science that throw light on the working of the human person. Moral principles have to be applied in accordance with the knowledge supplied by such sciences as biology, psychology and sociology.

The Church's new attitude in respect of suicide is due to the progress made in psychology in its understanding of the nature of suicide. Normally humans love life and wish to have it prolonged, not ended. The wish to end one's life is therefore an abnormal condition. It is hard to imagine a person in full possession of his mental faculties committing suicide. One who is led to that step is emotionally disturbed, distraught and mentally ill, at least momentarily, and is therefore not fully responsible for his or her action. It cannot be said that one in such a state of mind has really lost faith in God or despaired of His goodness and mercy. The Church looks upon death by suicide as the death of a mentally sick person.

Apart from the Church's new insights into the mental condition of the suicide, she wishes also to give comfort and consolation to the bereaved. Unlike an ordinary death, a suicide is a particularly sad and traumatic experience for the members of the family, relatives and friends. By giving a Christian burial to the deceased, the Church comforts them in their sorrow.