Support and Information for Those Affected by Suicide

Our community of faith is here to comfort and support you.

When someone you love has taken their own life, you may want to know “why?” You may feel alone, shocked, abandoned, guilty, responsible or angry, or you may experience any number of emotions that can change often. But each response is unique to your own grief journey. Suicide is a tragedy, but you don’t have to walk this journey alone. For support and more information, please visit:

Survivors of Suicide

Catholic Family Services

Compassionate Friends

Children’s Grief Center

Losing a loved one to suicide is devastating. The Church has profound sympathy for those who have experienced the tragedy of having a loved one take their own life. The Church offers hope in the midst of the enormous pain that a suicide brings: “We 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 (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2283). “…Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide” (CCC 2282).

If you are grieving the loss of a loved one, please click here for information about grief ministry in the Diocese of Saginaw

If you are having thoughts of suicide please call Crisis Line: 1-800-273-TALK (8255.

A Prayer for Comfort

God our strength and our redeemer:
you do not leave us in this life
nor abandon us in death.
Hear our prayer for those in despair,
when days are full of darkness
and the future empty of hope.
Renew in them your sustaining strength
for we believe that there is nothing in all creation
that can separate us from your love,
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen