Limbo, limbo, limbo….
From Jonah at NRO:
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After several years of study, the Vatican’s International Theological Commission said there are good reasons to hope that babies who die without being baptized go to heaven.
In a document published April 20, the commission said the traditional concept of limbo — as a place where unbaptized infants spend eternity but without communion with God — seemed to reflect an “unduly restrictive view of salvation.”
The church continues to teach that, because of original sin, baptism is the ordinary way of salvation for all people and urges parents to baptize infants, the document said.
But there is greater theological awareness today that God is merciful and “wants all human beings to be saved,” it said. 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,” it said.
“Our conclusion is that the many factors that we have considered … give serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific vision,” the document said.
“We emphasize that these are reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge,” it added.
Gotta tell you, Limbo is one of our theological things I never really thought about, especially since everyone I know has been baptized. But it’s nice to know that we’re giving these babies “hope.” Have you ever seen the film The Others? It mentions limbo, and in a not-nice way; the mom (Nicole Kidman) uses it to scare her kids. Not so much.
