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394 • Part III. Christian Morality: The Faith Lived
question is often asked whether persons who have committed suicide
receive eternal salvation. Although suicide is always objectively sinful,
one “should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have
taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the
opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who
have taken their own lives” (CCC, no. 2283). The pastoral care of fam-
ily and friends of those who have taken their own lives is an important
focus for the Church’s healing and compassionate ministry.
Catholic moral tradition has always taught that we can discontinue
medical procedures that are burdensome, extraordinary, and dispropor-
tionate to the outcome. However, respect for every human being demands
the ordinary treatment of the dying by the provision of food, water,
warmth, and hygiene. Ordinary treatment is always a moral requirement.
There is also extraordinary treatment. The Church recognizes that
some medical treatment may not provide benefits commensurate with
the risks of certain medical procedures. Extraordinary medical treat-
ment may not be morally required and can even cease in certain cases,
depending on the benefits to the sick person and the burdens it will or
may impose. For example, in instances when a person has been declared
brain-dead, the patient can be disconnected from mechanical devices
that sustain breathing and the heart since there is little hope of the per-
son’s recovery.
The Death Penalty
Following the lead of Pope John Paul II’s
The Gospel of Life
, the
Cate
chism
teaches that governmental authority has the right and duty to
assure the safety of society, and to punish criminals by means of suitable
penalties. This includes imposition of the death penalty if there is no
other way to protect society (cf. CCC, no. 2267). But this principle has
a very restrictive application:
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and pro-
tect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself
to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete
conditions of the common good and more in conformity with
the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a conse-