Catholic women who attend Mass regularly are far less likely to commit suicide compared to non-religious or even Protestant women, a new study has found.
Women who attend religious services of any kind once a week or more are five times less likely to commit suicide than women who don’t. But women who regularly attended Protestant services were still seven times more likely to commit suicide than women who regularly attended the Catholic Mass.
In fact, of the 6,999 Catholic women who attended Mass more than once a week in the study, there was not a single suicide recorded.
“Seriously, this is interesting,” Catholic sociologist Mark Regnerus wrote on Facebook regarding the study. He added that the study is particularly relevant since it “doesn’t have any sample size problems.”
The Catholic Church has long taught that suicide is a grave sin. The Catechism teaches, “Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.” However, it also acknowledges that there can be mitigating factors regarding the person’s culpability: “Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.”
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