Suicide memorial in Chicago signals compassionate shift by Catholic church

First US memorial for suicide victims dedicated by Chicago archdiocese earlier this year at Queen of Heaven cemetery

The Chicago archdiocese has recognized the Rev Charles Rubey’s work supporting families whose loved ones died by suicide this year by dedicating in his honor a memorial to the lives lost to suicide and the victims’ surviving families.

In 1979 Rubey founded the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide, a counseling and support program run by Catholic Charities of the archdiocese of Chicago.