Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao 1985-5-18
God's improper suicide
She did not commit suicide before
Our reporter Li Huifen
What exactly is suicide?
This issue has recently aroused widespread discussion in the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong, because Weng Meiling was classified as a "suspected murder" by the police, and her funeral decided to adopt a Catholic ceremony. According to the Catholic canon, believers are not allowed to commit suicide. If a believer commits suicide, he will be automatically disqualified as a believer. Therefore, he cannot use Catholic ceremonies for funerals and burial in Catholic cemeteries.
Catholic Hong Kong Diocese spokesperson Yang Mingzhang explained that Weng Meiling’s funeral was allowed to be a Catholic ceremony, saying that Weng Meiling’s funeral had been notified to the Central Secretariat of the Diocese. After research, he believed that Weng Meiling’s death could not be regarded as suicide, so he approved Weng Meiling’s funeral.
He went on to say that although Weng Meiling’s mood changes when she died, no one knows, but according to news from the newspaper, she had called Tang Zhenye, but Tang Zhenye did not answer the phone, and she called a friend surnamed Zou, but that friend was out of reach. And into. So it's hard to prove that she was begging to die from beginning to end. Or she wanted to change her mind, but she was powerless.
He said that in the ecclesiastical code implemented last year, several amendments and deletions have been made to the funeral regulations. The content is: if the person is not clearly certain that the person committed suicide, the person is still a Catholic, so Catholic rituals can be used.
Under what circumstances is it considered suicide? Yang Mingzhang pointed out that the Catholic Church did not make a definite decision on this, because it depends on the circumstances of each person. Although the Catholic Church does not allow believers to be self-sufficient, but the legal principle is not outside of human favor, and it is impossible to prove that the person committed suicide. Give sympathy, and he should not be self-sufficient.
For example, he said that even if a person ends his life by hanging his neck or cutting his abdomen, he may not necessarily be self-reliant. If the person is insane and has these behaviors, it cannot be regarded as suicide because he did not intend to do so. do.
He also said that even if the person left a suicide note and declared that he was going to die, he would not necessarily be judged as self-reliance. For example, the movie star Lin Dai wrote a sentence in her suicide note: Please don't send her to a public hospital, but to a private hospital. From this sentence, we can see that she is joking, and it can also prove that she is not desperate for death, so she can still be buried in a Catholic cemetery after her death.
(translated by Google translate)
Source: https://m.weibo.cn/status/4542243258243439
香港 大公報 1985-5-18 @大公報-大公網
特寫
天主敎不當翁自殺
以前林黛亦不作自殺論
本報記者 李惠芬
究竟何謂自殺？
這問题最近曾引起香港天主教教區廣泛討論，因為翁美玲是被警方列為「懷疑身殺」案，而她的喪禮決定採用天主教儀式。根據天主教教規，教徒是不准自殺的，若果教徒自殺，將會被自動取消教徒的资格，因而不能採用天主教儀式舉行喪禮及葬於天主教墳場。
天主教香港教區發言人楊鳴章解釋准許翁美玲喪禮採取天主教儀式時表示，翁美玲的喪禮曾知會教區中央秘書處，經過研究後，認為翁美玲的死並不能視為自殺，所以批准翁美玲的喪禮儀式。
他續說，雖然翁美玲死時心境的變化如何，無人知曉，但從報章所得的消息知道，她曾經致電湯鎮業，但湯鎮業沒有覆機，她又曾致電姓鄒的朋友，但那朋友不得其門而入。所以很難證實她是由始至终一心求死。或者她曾想改變主意，但已是有心無力。
他説，在去年實施的教會法典中，對喪禮方面的規定，已作出若干修改及删除，内容為：如不能清楚肯定那人為自殺，則那人便仍然為天主教徒，所以能夠採用天主教儀式。
究意什麽情况下才算自殺呢？楊鳴章指出，天主教對此並没有訂立麼定羲，因為要視乎各人的情况而定，雖然天主教不許教徒自毅，但法理不外人情，不能肯定證明那人是自殺時，便應該對他赋予同情，不應將他作自毅論。
他舉例說，一個人就算採用吊頸或切腹的形式而結束自己的生命，也未必一定是自毅，如果那人是精神錯亂而導致有這些行為，這便不能當作自殺，因他並非有意這樣做。
他又說，就算那人留下遺書，聲言要死，也不一定判其為自毅。例如影星林黛，她在遺書中寫有一句：請發現她的人不要將她送入公立醫院中，而送往私立醫院，兔得被人恥笑。由這句話，可知她在說笑，也可證明她並非求死心切，所以她在死後仍可安葬於天主教墳場。
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