Cardinal Cupich’s Archdiocese of Chicago Suggests All People Who Kill Themselves Are Saved

If "Tucho" Heal Me With Your Mouth Fernández, is correct that EVERYONE is saved, of course they are. But the Church has always taught differently.

From LifeSiteNews

By LifeSiteNews Staff

The Archdiocese of Chicago unveiled a memorial in a Catholic cemetery for ‘lives lost to suicide,’ saying, ‘every person is held in God's loving care.’

The Archdiocese of Chicago, headed by Cardinal Blase Cupich, has dedicated a memorial to “honor the lives lost to suicide and offer a sacred space for prayer and remembrance,” while simultaneously telling Catholics that people who die by suicide are “not condemned.” 

The archdiocese claimed in a press release that although “Historically, the Catholic Church denied Catholic funerals in churches and burials in consecrated ground for individuals who died by suicide … the Church has undergone a significant transformation in its understanding of suicide and mental illness and now recognizes that many who die by suicide suffer from mental illness and unbearable pain.”

“The Church now embraces these individuals and affirms that they are with God, not condemned,” Cupich’s archdiocese asserted.  

Contrary to the press release, the Church teaches that suicide is a mortal sin and that committing it willfully leads to eternal damnation.

Suicide is “gravely contrary to the just love of self” and “offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states.

“Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide,” it adds.

The memorial, titled “At Peace,” “was designed to be ecumenical in nature and provide support to mourners of all faiths and beliefs,” according to The Chicago Tribune. It is located in Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside. 

The dedication of the memorial also comes after Illinois Democrats legalized assisted suicide last December.

“We did not want this memorial hidden away and we were intentional in every detail from the location to the design,” said Bishop Lawrence J. Sullivan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “This is not something we are ashamed of. It is something we are committed to addressing with compassion, understanding and faith.” 

“This shrine stands as a reminder that no one grieves alone and that every person is held in God’s loving care,” said Sullivan. “For families carrying the pain of losing a loved one to suicide, we want this to be a place of peace, healing and comfort.”

According to the archdiocesan press statement, Bishop Sullivan “developed the idea for the memorial amid COVID-19 pandemic discussions on the heightened awareness of mental illness. He has led the effort in consultation with mental health advocates, pastoral leaders and members of the Catholic Charities Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) Program, founded by Rev. Charles Rubey.”

The shrine is dedicated in honor of Rubey, who has spent 50 of his 60 years in the priesthood opposing the stigma surrounding suicide. 

“This beautiful memorial will have a deep impact on families,” said Fr. Rubey. “This compelling effort by the Archdiocese of Chicago shows the Church’s willingness to acknowledge past misunderstandings of suicide, and to stand with survivors and grieve their loss with them. The memorial shows survivors that their loved ones are with God, their lives were sacred and they are included among the faithful.”

Cardinal Cupich’s archdiocese is not alone in attempting to soften the Church’s teachings on who ultimately makes it to Heaven or Hell. 

In an opinion piece written for Fox News earlier this year, Bishop Robert Barron cast doubt on the eternal fate of Judas Iscariot, the Apostle who betrayed Our Lord, and presented a number of reasons for concluding (or hoping) that Judas may have been saved.