Most people reading the headline, "Pope Gets Rid of Limbo" are probably thinking, "What a killjoy! We really liked that game." They have in mind, of course, the game invented in Trinidad in which people shimmy their way to an ever-lowering pole and then try and propel their bodies, facing up and legs first, under the bar. It's a lot of fun to watch, especially when there are girls doing it, and alcohol is involved.
This type of limbo has not been outlawed by Pope Benedict, although I am sure he is ambivalent about it. Rather, the Pope has approved a theological commission's recommendation that the Catholic Church get rid of it's longstanding concept of limbo--a place, mentioned nowhere in the Bible, where babies go if they die before being baptized. Limbo has never been a formal doctrine of the Catholic Church, but it was considered sufficiently standard to be included in pre-communion lessons in Catholic schools around the world.
I was scornful of the idea when I first learned it in Catholic cathechism. But over the years I saw that it makes a kind of sense. The Christian idea is that we humans are born with original sin, what Immanuel Kant called the "crooked timber of humanity." This warped disposition is part of our nature, and therefore Catholics held that even newborns have it, and how can anyone who has an unrepented sinful nature go to heaven? Hell seemed like too harsh an alternative for little ones who had done nothing wrong, and so the Catholic Church invented limbo.
Think of limbo as a place which has no suffering, or if there is suffering, it is very mild. One of my Dartmouth professors explained it as a place where one-year-olds were gently pelted with marshmallows which they were nevertheless permitted to eat.
But today we live in a strange era in which infants are killed even before they are officially born. Thanks to Roe v. Wade and other abortion laws, being born is itself getting to be quite an achievement! And certainly it seems cruel and unreasonable to consign an unborn child, whose life has been snuffed out even before it began, to anything less than heaven. Even marshmallow pelting seems unfair under these circumstances.
And so from now on Catholicism will teach that unbaptized infants--born and unborn--go straight to heaven. I like this idea better, although I'm going to have to throw out my old cathechism book.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 33)
31. Help! Didn't our Savior, on the cross, wipe away our sin? I never did believe in Limbo or eating fish on Friday. Man made interpretations and rules never stand the test of time. God is in control of my life, not a pastor, not a priest and definetely not the POPE.
Mary Bender at 9:39AM on Apr 21st 2007
32. Bill, pretty standard comment for folks who are looking for reasons not to have to answer for their lives...
Terry at 9:41AM on Apr 21st 2007
33. Limbo what? Were there not two thieves crucified with Jesus and did not one believe. Jesus said to the unbaptised man "today you shall be with me in paradise." Did he say today you shall be with me in Limbo." You might not believe but search the scriptures and see what God has to say. For you who don't believe and don't care then you have made that decision, because you are a free moral agent.
Now to those who say they believe, know that all confusion comes from our enemy the devil. There is much confusion from that church supposedly that derives from Peter, a Jew, who never evangelized Rome. Paul (Saul of Tarsus) evangelized with others the uncircumsised world, not Peter as Rome would have one believe. The word of God states clearly that you shall know them by their fruit, what fruit is being shown here, confusion is the answer and not of God.
Harold at 9:42AM on Apr 21st 2007
34. Mary Bender - HE took the sins of the world upon Himself but never does it say he wiped them all out. We still sin everyday. HIS unselfish act allowed GRACE if we truly repent, which still gives us a way to HIM.
Terry at 9:47AM on Apr 21st 2007
35. All other Bibles but the King James Version are in total error. King James Bible is a not how the people of Isreal talked but it is the translation that was most commonly used over the years. The other versions just cause confusion and alot of them omit things that are in the KJV. So as the bible says,ALL CONFUSION IS OF THE DEVIL. If two people can't come to agreement on what God has to say then there is confusion and it is not of God.
Harold at 9:49AM on Apr 21st 2007
36. I was raised catholic but at 35 I was saved. At that time I desided to get baptised, and my father asked me why? He said I had been already. I pointed out that it was a decision that he had made for me. This time I make that decision for myself. What did I beleive in @ 7 days old? Jesus the Christ says that "Whosoever beleives in Him..."Jn 3:16. Does an infant have the ablility to beleive in God? Can he "confess with his mouth that Jesus is the Christ"? Since not we have to learn the charactor of God to get our hope. God is Love. That is his charactor. Would Love punish one who couldn't deside? And didn't Jesus say it would be better to suffer than to harm a child? So could God then punish a baby. Not if you KNOW HIM!
DJ at 10:18AM on Apr 21st 2007
37. The Gospel, or Good News, is that Jesus Christ died for our sins. God gave us all free will to accept or reject His gift of salvation. When you accept His free gift, you've chosen to be born again and have made Jesus lord of your life. This allows you in to Heaven, but by rejecting His gift you've chosen to go to Hell. God doesn't send people to Hell, He just honors their choice. Babies, or persons under the age of accountability, are not able to make that decision for themselves. But God, in His loving kindness, only holds us accountable for what we know. If you haven't heard the Good News, how can you accept or reject it? The Great Commission that Jesus issued in Mark 16 is to spread the Good News, not argue about church doctrine.
Sounds like Good News to me!
Sherry Phillips at 9:55AM on Apr 21st 2007
38. Harold,
You have it backward. The KJV omits things found in other Bibles. And yes, all confusion is of the devil,hence 33,000 different protestant denominations.
Julie at 9:59AM on Apr 21st 2007
39. The Catholic Church did not show up right after the crucifixtion of Jesus but some 325 yers later when Constatine decided to baptize his Roman Army. Man folks can't even read history. How does one expect to recieve something from God's word if they don't even take time to seek Him. Historical things in the BIBLE are easily Proven, just look at it like a lawyer searching evidence for a case. Once you start searching you will find, there is no Limbo, Peter did not evangelize Rome, the church( tongue in cheek) was formed in 325 AD.
Harold at 8:29AM on Apr 22nd 2007
40. I was always taught that there is baptism by water and baptism by desire. An infant can receive baptism by the desire of the mother and/or the father. God is our Father and He desires the salvation of all His children. Therefore, I believe that all infants who die go to heaven by the desire of Our Father who is in heaven.
Maria Mantello at 10:11AM on Apr 21st 2007
41. There appears to be a lot of confusion here. Limbo was never an official teaching of the Catholic Church. All Pope Benedict is saying is, when that kid inevitably asks what happens to unbaptized babies who die, perhaps asking during Catechism class, telling him or her about Limbo is not an option endorsed by the Church. Anything NOT in Scripture is NOT a part of official Church doctrine. Scripture does not address the question. Hence the quandary. As it is not in the Bible, it will not be a part of official doctrine.
Julie at 10:08AM on Apr 21st 2007
42. This is already in keeping with the official
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.[60] He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.[61] Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.[62] The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." GOD HAS BOUND SALVATION TO THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM, BUT HE HIMSELF IS NOT BOUND BY HIS SACRAMENTS.
[....]
1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, WE MUST HOLD THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT OFFERS TO ALL THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING MADE PARTAKERS, IN A WAY KNOWN TO GOD, OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERY."[63] [....]
1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,"[64] allow us TO HOPE THAT THERE IS A WAY OF SALVATION FOR CHILDREN WHO HAVE DIED WITHOUT BAPTISM. [....]
- - - -
[60] Cf. Jn. 3:5.
[61] Cf. Mt. 28:19-20; cf. Council of Trent (1547) DS 1618; Lumen Gentium 14; Ad Gentes 5.
[62] Cf. Mk. 16:16.
[63] Gaudium et Spes 22 § 5; cf. Lumen Gentium 16; Ad Gentes 7.
[64] Mk. 10 14; cf. 1 Tim. 2:4.
Fr. Stephanos, O.S.B. at 10:11AM on Apr 21st 2007
43. I donot beleive in limbo or purgatory. I do beleive in heaven(Paradise) and hell(Hades) simply because these are the conditions that Jesus Christ spoke of where the soul enters based on a life of Loving God and neighbor (friend and enemy).Neither can I appoint who enters where when it is time to be judged- and neither can any other man on earth.
Francis at 10:21AM on Apr 21st 2007
44. Yes, Maria, well said. And Fr. Stephanos.
The Pope is agreeing with (most) everyone here. He is saying, yes, this teaching is not Biblical. And yes, it was never part of official Church doctrine.
Anti-Catholics would not know this, because they don't bother to examine what the church REALLY teaches.
Julie at 10:20AM on Apr 21st 2007
45. Hence 33,000 protestant Churches becuse of a the myth of the catholic church. Hence no catholics no confusion. where do you think the so called protestants sprung up from. They were protesting the mother of all confusion. The only thing omited from my bible are the books of the romans. I am not allowed to judge any man but I can judge the fruits of all christian churches and people. This is biblical as you know or do you. The only fruit I ever saw as a catholic was bar owners selling booze to people who then drove their cars drunk killing and maiming people(this from so called christians), racist, unbelievers not knowing the true Living God, I could go on and on about the unholy fruits that pour out of that thing called catholic. Young boys being molested( granted other folks from other denominations do evil things also). You, shall know them by their fruit Galations 5:21-23, 1 Corinthian 6.
Harold at 9:31AM on Apr 26th 2007