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Could you go straight to heaven if you just kill yourself on All Souls Day?

It is observed on November 2. Roman Catholic doctrine holds that the prayers of the faithful on earth will help cleanse these souls in order to fit them for the vision of God in heaven, and the day is dedicated to prayer and remembrance.

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    Since you appear to be asking from a Roman Catholic perspective, and since Roman Catholicism holds suicide to be an unforgivable sin, the short answer is a pretty firm "no". (Note that many or most Christians, not just RCs, believe that suicides are probably not saved.) Moreover, the intent behind such an attempt is itself almost certainly sinful.
    – Matthew
    Nov 7 at 4:42
  • @Matthew distinguo the act of attempting suicide is a forgivable sin. Presumption or despair is the offense against the Holy Spirit which is not. It's certainly possible for someone to attempt suicide without any thought of the eternal consequences.
    – Peter Turner
    Nov 7 at 4:54
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    @PeterTurner, yes, but I didn't say "attempted" in the comment. The key point is motive. Despair that fails to trust in God is a problem. Trying to game the system is also a problem.
    – Matthew
    Nov 7 at 5:23
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    The Bible says after we die comes judgment, and God judges us on what we did while alive. To take your own life is a sin. To take your own life is to reject the love of God and his free and undeserved gift of eternal life. Furthermore, "All Souls' Day" is a man-made tradition and I am unaware of any basis for it in Scripture. I say this, not to offend Catholics, but as a wake-up call to any person contemplating suicide.
    – Lesley
    Nov 7 at 17:18
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    Unless one is prepared to state that suicide is equivalent to the blasphemy against the holy spirit one should be careful in making declarations of unforgivability. This is too serious to muddle around with. Nov 7 at 18:37

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No, if you kill yourself you will go to Hell.

2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise 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. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.

2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.

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

2283 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.

Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church 2280-2283 for completeness. The Catechism doesn't say specifically that Suicide=Hell, but free choice, full knowledge and grave matter are all there in this case to make it objectively a Mortal Sin in the situation you devised. This is clearly the sin of Presumption which is an offense against the Holy Spirit:

2092 There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).


However, there are several days where being hit by a bus immediately after Mass would be to your immediate and eternal benefit.

All Souls Day is not one of these days - unless you are unusually prepared for coincidences (like maybe if you're buried alive and someone comes to your funeral who has completed the requirements for a plenary indulgence?), but Divine Mercy Sunday (if you completed the requirements for a plenary indulgence) would be a fine day to die as would the day of your Baptism.

In fact, if you can muster up complete detachment from sin (which requires a lot of grace), pray for the intention of the Pope and receive Communion and go to confession in the window that gives you a plenary indulgence you're "good to go" as they say.

You're right, there are some hacks that can make it easier, but in general, it's better to cultivate a love of Jesus and a life of holiness than rely on the tricks of the trade (or coincidence). The "hacks" are the extraordinary means, Protestants will often object to these as legalistic or idolatrous, but they're nothing of the sort.

All of Jewish history suggested that there were times and seasons of forgiveness and the Catholic church is a continuation and fulfillment of Jewish traditions in sacrifice, forgiveness, prayer and revelation. The Jews had the Sabbath, the Jubilee Year, Passover, Purim, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah, all of which were special periods of grace and forgiveness and remembrance.

It's a great loss to all of Christendom that these have been abandoned by Protestants and turned the United States and Western Europe into wastelands of corporatism where each day is the same as the last (except for Christmas and maybe Easter day). A particular period of forgiveness for rich and poor alike is a tremendous boon for all of our souls which should not be negated or sneered at.

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    "there are some hacks that can make it easier"... no, this is idolatry. Perhaps there are more salubrious times to be accidentally killed, but the moment you start trying to game the system, you are placing your trust in something other than God.
    – Matthew
    Nov 7 at 5:26
  • @Matthew what is the point of a jubilee? Were those festivities instituted for idolatry?
    – Peter Turner
    Nov 7 at 15:09
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    No, but you aren't saved by "following the rules" (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you're looking to legalism to save you, you're looking in the wrong direction and making the same mistake the Jews in Jesus' time made. (And, yes, legalism is a form of idolatry.) Then again, Roman Catholics making that mistake is the whole reason the Reformation happened, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you, as a Roman Catholic, lean that way.
    – Matthew
    Nov 7 at 15:40
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    If you get to blame corporate America on protestantism does that mean we get to blame Catholicism for the mafia? Nov 7 at 19:00
  • @mike sure, I would like to know the connection. Pope Francis did excommunicate the mafia, not sure it did any good. I can't think of any capitalists who are also Catholics worth excommunicating, but I'm sure there are a few. In any event, I thought Protestants were proud of corporate America. Holy Days of Obligation (like All Saints Day) were once an obligation of employers to provide for their employee's day off. That's where we get our holidays from. I hope we'd agree that it would be better for the church to tell us when and why our holy days should be than the government.
    – Peter Turner
    Nov 7 at 20:21

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