A young woman I know has decided she does not want to bring children into the world because of school shootings. It is easy to understand her concern. Press coverage of such events stokes fear and suggests such events are common.

Yet her concern is misplaced. Out of the roughly 45,000 gun deaths that occur annually in the United States (dwarfing the rates of any other developed country), only 1-2% are due to mass shootings (defined as four or more victims) of any kind.

What is much less discussed is that the majority of gun deaths year in and year out are the result of suicide, and the majority of these victims are white males and veterans. Guns are the most effective way to kill oneself, succeeding 90% of the time.

In 2024, nearly 28,000 Americans shot themselves. That is almost double the total for those involved in shootouts with police, domestic violence, and random acts of carnage. The people most vulnerable to gun violence are gun owners and their families.

For organizations dedicated to preventing suicides, the obvious conclusion is to limit access to guns, particularly for those people who might be most prone to self-harm. Red flag laws have been one proposed solution, allowing judges or the police to remove access to weapons in cases where there is a danger to the gun owner or others. But when it comes to suicide, the challenge is that there is no easy way to predict who is likely to commit it.

Gun advocates often oppose red flag laws, arguing that suicide is a mental health issue, not a gun issue. In either case, the problem for state or local authorities is funding the resources to identify and provide help for a person contemplating suicide. Researchers say that the moment a person decides to take his life is often an impulse. Barriers on bridges, a gun lock or a locked gun cabinet, even a posted suicide help line may be enough to save a life.

Preventing suicide is one challenge. Dealing with the psychological and spiritual fallout from a suicide is something else. How the Catholic Church responds to suicide has evolved significantly over recent decades.

For many centuries, suicide victims were not allowed a Catholic funeral or burial. The soul of the suicide was considered damned. The 1908 “Catholic Encyclopedia” entry lumped suicides in with all others denied a Catholic burial: “pagans, Jews, infidels, heretics, and their adherents,” and persons killed in a duel.

Church teaching has become much more nuanced in recent decades. The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” still condemns suicide. “We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us,” it says. “It is not ours to dispose of.” (2280)

At the same time, it acknowledges that “grave psychological disturbances” and other factors “can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.” (2282) “We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives,” and we should pray for them. (2283)

There has often been a stigma attached not just to the person who killed himself, but to his family as well. Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix knows firsthand this stigma. Three of his siblings and a brother-in-law have committed suicide. In a video on the Phoenix website, Dolan recounts the challenges for those who lose a family member, and the prejudices that follow them.

His message is simple: “The Church is here to accompany those who are survivors of suicide loss.” Dolan has become an advocate for pastoral sensitivity and for mental health ministry toward those contemplating suicide and their families.

This is a change from the Church’s historic hostility, and it seems to be gathering steam. Most recently, the Archdiocese of Chicago created a first-of-its-kind memorial to those who have committed suicide and to their families. It is dedicated to Father Charles Rubey, a priest of the archdiocese who almost 50 years ago founded the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide Program.

The memorial includes a bronze sculpture of an angel “whose wings cradle a granite bench,” The Chicago Catholic reported. “The sculpture is intended to offer a sense of comfort and support to anyone who sits within the angel’s embrace.”

More from Greg Erlandson

More than a decade ago, a priest I knew and admired committed suicide. To this day, I still feel the pain and the shock of this loss.

I do not know why he did it. I can only imagine his pain and his suffering, and I continue to pray for him, comforted at least in the fact that the Church entrusts him and all those who loved him to God’s mercy.

Meanwhile, efforts to prevent suicide and to help survivors are needed more than ever. Deterring suicides among our young, our veterans, and, increasingly, our elderly is a pro-life cause we must embrace.