This belief has its' roots in the Catholic Church of the Dark and Middle Ages, as I understand it. I do not claim to be an expert in current or historical Catholic belief but I believe that St. Thomas Aquinas had something to do with this sort of thing, and that the machinations of the church at that time turned suicide into a sort of business. Given that the man lives in Haiti, there is a strong possibility that he is Catholic.
This is only my opinion, based upon what I have heard, but the Catholic Church used to allow family members of the departed to purchase "indulgences" for the departed. This was a major factor when it came to suicides, as the suicidal generally did not confess their sins and affirm their faith in Jesus Christ before they died. Even if they did confess and repent their sins, they would have one sin they could repent for: suicide.
The burden of repentance would then fall to their family members. If they did not have any family members to inherit their property, it became the property of the Church as a form of indulgence, as any unwilled posessions were supposed to "go to God" (in the form of the church, of course).
Though that is only my opinion, I am inclined to believe that it is mostly based in fact because of the Catholic Church's longstanding tradition of taking the property of those who died and left no heirs. The Inquisition is a good example of this, as is the practice of avoiding marriage to up to 4th-degree cousins.
That last part bears a bit of explaining. During the dark and middle ages, overland transportation was extremely limited, and even coastal sea travel was hazardous. The length and hazards of long-distance travel at the time made choices amongst marriage partners difficult once the church imposed its' sanction. Couple that with the constant feuds between noble houses of differing (or even vaguely similar lineage), and the high infant mortality rate, and you have a foolproof recipe for a constant transfer of heirless property to the Church. Furthermore, consider the patriarchal lineage that most houses used, and the frequency of death amongst nobles (all men, amazingly) who went to battle.
Knowing what I do of you, Platapus, it should be no great logical leap for you to understand exactly how this man arrived in his situation, given the information I have provided. That however, is not to say that I am correct, only that my advice on the subject should be fairly clear.
In any case, I still stand as a proud member of the protestant sect. Surely our reinterpretation of the Cotholic beliefs and practices cannot be wrong, right?
