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There is a great controversy over the news release yesterday, which stated the Pope had "buried" the concept of the Limbo of the infants (limbus infantium). Let me start by clarifying that the Limbo of the Fathers (limbus patrum) - the place where the holy people who died before Christ was resurrected - still is part of Catholic Theology. The Limbo of the infants, called Limbo for short, was the only idea addressed yesterday.

Here is part of an article by Reuters:

    The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went. In a long-awaited document, the Church's International Theological Commission said limbo reflected an "unduly restrictive view of salvation," according to the U.S.-based Catholic News Service, which obtained a copy on Friday.

    The thumbs-down verdict on limbo had been expected for years and the document, called "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptised," was seen as most likely to be final since limbo was never formally part of Church doctrine. Pope Benedict authorized the publication of the document. According to the CNS report, the 41-page document says the theologians advising the Pope concluded that since God is merciful he "wants all human beings to be saved."



The media is attempting to make it seem as if Limbo was always a firm dogma. It wasn't! The Limbo of the infants was just a "theological hypothesis". In reality, no one knows the fate of children who die without the Sacrament of Baptism. Baptism is necessary for salvation, but these children may have never had the opportunity to become baptized. St. Augustine took a different approach and believed that children who die without Baptism would unfortunately have to go to Hell. Pope St. Pius X and numerous other saints have disagreed and claimed that such children go to an special place called Limbo (see bottom of post). Personally, I will continue believing in the Limbo of the infants.


All of this is just a theological hypothesis. We do not know the fate of such children even after the report by the International Theological Commission because the Commission is not infallible either. The findings of the Commission are not binding to anyone!


From a Catholic World News article of yesterday: "Limbo has never been defined as church dogma and is not mentioned in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states simply that unbaptized infants are entrusted to God's mercy."



The Catechism of Pope St. Pius X:

11 Q. When should infants be brought to the Church to be baptised?
A. Infants should be brought to the Church to be baptised as soon as possible.

12 Q. Why such anxiety to have infants receive Baptism?
A. There should be the greatest anxiety to have infants baptised because, on account of their tender age, they are exposed to many dangers of death, and cannot be saved without Baptism.

Auctorem Fidei by Pope Pius VI, August 28, 1794:

[Errors of the Synod of Pistoia.] The doctrine which rejects as a Pelagian fable that place of the lower regions (which the faithful generally designate by the name of limbo of the children) in which the souls of those departing with the sole guilt of original sin are punished with the punishment of the condemned, exclusive of the punishment of fire [...] is false, rash, injurious to Catholic schools.




http://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2007/04/limbo-of-infants.html

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“NO NEGATION OF BAPTISM”

The document stressed that its conclusions should not be interpreted as questioning original sin or “used to negate the necessity of baptism or delay the conferral of the sacrament.”

Limbo, which comes from the Latin word meaning “border” or “edge,” was considered by medieval theologians to be a state or place reserved for the unbaptized dead, including good people who lived before the coming of Christ.

“People find it increasingly difficult to accept that God is just and merciful if he excludes infants, who have no personal sins, from eternal happiness, whether they are Christian or non-Christian,” the document said.

It said the study was made all the more pressing because “the number of nonbaptised infants has grown considerably, and therefore the reflection on the possibility of salvation for these infants has become urgent.”

The commission’s conclusions had been widely expected.

In writings before his election as Pope in 2005, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger made it clear he believed the concept of limbo should be abandoned because it was “only a theological hypothesis” and “never a defined truth of faith.”

In the Divine Comedy, Dante placed virtuous pagans and great classical philosophers, including Plato and Socrates, in limbo. The Catholic Church’s official catechism, issued in 1992 after decades of work, dropped the mention of limbo.


(underscoring mine)
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/

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