The Catholic Condemnation of Rational Suicide (IN: Contemporary Perspectives on Rational Suicide, edited by J L Werth, Jr.)

In this chapter, the author reviews the approach of the Roman Catholic Church to suicide starting with a definition of suicide. Next, biblical teachings on suicide are discussed. Catholic moral arguments from St. Augustine & St. Thomas Aquinas are presented. Contemporary developments of the Roman Catholic teaching against suicide are discussed. It is argued that Catholic teachings have vigorously affirmed the transcendence of human life while suicide advocates have continued to ascribe only a limited & utilitarian value to it.