Grace has priority over sin, and the exclusion of innocent babies from heaven does not seem to reflect Christ’s special love for the little ones.” Two years later, the commission concluded, “There is greater theological awareness today that God is merciful and wants all human beings to be saved. In 2005, the International Theological Commission, composed of experts from around the world, took up the question of limbo. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, commented in 1984 that limbo was only a hypothesis. While such a view may seem harsh, for some it was understood as a comfort: that while not baptized, none who died as children would experience the pains of hell.ĭespite further theological speculation in the Middle Ages through the modern period, limbo was never an official doctrine of the church, though it was commonly taught and held. Having done no wrong in this life, they would experience a neutral state, free from any pain or punishment. Augustine, that infants dying without baptism would neither be admitted to the glory of Heaven nor condemned to suffer punishment. It was an early tradition of some of the fathers of the church, particularly the fourth century theologians St. Since baptism is ordinarily necessary for entering eternal life, if baptism were omitted, it was thought that happiness forever with God would not be possible. The idea of limbo was a speculative theory derived in part from belief in the necessity of baptism. It was reasoned that thought these souls had not committed sin, neither had original sin been removed, depriving them of the “beatific vision” (being face to face with God). Rather than entering either heaven or hell, some believed these souls after death were brought to a place of no pain or suffering, a state of natural happiness, yet a place without God. Does the church still teach that?Ī: As you mentioned, limbo, from the Latin word for “border,” was a theological hypothesis to explain the fate of unbaptized infants. Q: Back in the day, we were taught there was a “limbo” where infants went if they died before baptism.
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