Limbo
Though Christians mourn the loss of their loved ones, death is not something for Christians to fear. Through baptism, the sins of a Christian are washed away and he can expect to stand justified before God through his faith in Christ. For persons deemed unworthy of heaven and too good for hell, the Church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, has proposed limbo and purgatory as alternative fates. For the past two millenniums, the Church has contemplated whether or not babies who die without baptism go to heaven, hell or limbo. Biblical evidence for the existence of an infant limbo is lacking and recently the Catholic church officially recanted the belief in limbo as the fate of unbaptized infants.
The word “limbo” comes from the Latin word “limbus,” which means edge or fringe (Sahagun). Limbo, in the theory of the Catholic Church, serves two distinct groups. “Limbus patrum”, or “father’s limbo” is hypothesized as the post-mortum resting place for Jews living before the time of Christ (Encyclopedia Britannica). Limbus patrum is suspected to be the subject spoken of in the gospels as “the feast in the Kingdom” or as “Abraham’s Bosom.” It is hypothesized that the Jews held there are the captives set free by Christ as mentioned in Ephesians 4:7-9 (New International Version). The Catholic Church describes this Biblical limbo as being a temporary happy place (New Advent). After the coming of Christ, this limbo was cleared of inhabitants, who were taken into heaven once Jesus paid permanently for their sins.
The second kind of limbo is “limbus infantum,” or infant limbo (Encyclopedia Britannica). Original sin, the concept that the sin of Adam is hereditary to every human being, renders even a fetus unholy before God. For strict believers in original sin or in the necessity of baptism for salvation, the death of an unbaptized infant is the loss of a soul for eternity. St. Augustine argued that because of original sin, infants would be sent to hell. However, he thought that because their only sin was the unavoidable sin of Adam, they would be subject to the lightest punishment available (Fisher 2005). This idea evolved over time into the idea of limbo as an eternal resting place for infants.
In the Middle Ages, to comfort grieving parents, the church and theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinus further developed the idea that infants would be sent to limbo as an intermediate place between heaven and hell. Some theologians and most famously, Dante Aligheri, maintained that limbo would also be the eternal fate of non-Christians who led exceptionally noble and righteous lives (Fisher 2005). Limbo is found in Dante’s Inferno, where he assigns his favorite Greek philosophers and some highly respected Muslim poets of his day (University of Texas).
Limbo as a fate for infants was never incorporated into official church teaching but was commonly accepted from the Middle Ages until the 1960’s. In 1905, Pope Pius X supported the doctrine of infant limbo, saying "Children who die without baptism go into limbo, where they do not enjoy God, but they do not suffer either" (Fischer 2005).
As the Catholic Church expanded from being a power in the Western and Northern hemispheres into the global south, the hierarchy became more aware of the problematic nature of limbo. The church was unsure of its existence, and the doctrine was not particularly comforting to parents. As the number of abortions in the world increased in the second half of the twentieth century, the existence of limbo became even more troubling. Pope John Paul II comforted mothers who had had abortions by saying, “You can entrust your infant with hope to the same Father and to His Mercy” (Fischer 2005, CUF News). The Catechism of 1992 does not mention limbo at all, and, “teaches that infants who die without baptism are entrusted by the Church to the mercy of God” (International Theological Commission).
With the high infant mortality among its new constituents, the church did not want to keep troubling parents with a doctrine that was possibly untrue (Fisher 2005). Another reason to distrust the theory of limbo is that it claims that there is a happy state of eternity without God, suggesting that there is joy from a source other than the Divine. In 2005, a conference of 30 top theologians convened at the Vatican to discuss the fate of babies who died outside of Christ (Fisher 2005). Over the next 2 years, the Vatican’s International Theological Commission worked to write a document stating the church’s official position on the existence of limbo (Reuters). In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI officially stated that limbo did not exist, and from what can be known of the world to come, there is a “prayerful hope” that unbaptised infants join God in heaven. The counsel stated:
“Our conclusion is that the many factors that we have considered above give serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptised infants who die will be saved and enjoy the Beatific Vision. We emphasise that these are reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge.”
The recanting of the doctrine of limbo was a rare occurrence in which the Catholic Church admitted an error in its former teachings. This may encourage some practicing Catholics to questions other extra-Biblical traditions to which the church holds or to doubt the Pope. On a positive note, the willingness to admit mistakes is a Christian virtue. The decision demonstrates that the church is willing to recognize which of its doctrines are essential and which are not, and to call into question non-essential, non-biblical doctrines that may serve as a stumbling block to belief. This decision by the Vatican demonstrates the gap of man’s knowledge of God. In the church’s decision, the Pope admits that he does not know for sure what will happen to babies after death. His decision is based on his knowledge of the love of God for infants and faith in His providence to not unjustly punish them. Some conservative Catholics criticize the decision, saying that it downplays the importance of baptism for salvation, and that the doctrine of limbo is useful in that it encourages parents to baptize their infants as soon as possible (CUF).
For Protestants, among which the Catholic Church has a bad reputation for feeding doctrine to its adherents and not encouraging them to think for themselves, the “abolition of limbo in 2007 was an opportunity for mockery. Without knowledge of the history of the theory of limbo, it appeared as though someone on earth had cancelled something in eternity.
I find it interesting to see how the Catholic Church struggles to answer big questions facing mankind. Every Christian wonders at some time or another about the fate of infants who die. Maybe they ask their pastor and readily accept his answer, or maybe they ponder the subject for years. But for most people, these questions stay as personal ponderings, and if they do reach a conclusion, they do not share it. The Catholic Church is expected to have answers, and so, more than the regular person would, they invested massive amounts of time, prayer, brainpower and resources to come to a conclusion to this problem.
Reading the Theological Commission’s document myself, I am impressed by the thought and study that went into creating this report. The intellectuals employed by the Vatican describe the rites of baptism and communion in such a way that I don’t think the average churchgoer ever considers them, explaining their roots in eternity and their significance in God’s plan of grace and love. The church affirms the importance of baptism and its power in salvation. Above all, they conclude that God is more powerful than anything they can comprehend. Their conclusion is made based on their knowledge that God loves children and has the power to save them.
I first began this paper as kind of a humorous expose on a quirky event in the history of Catholicism. Now I better understand the history of limbo and the thought that went into “abolishing” it. I personally am not familiar with my own church’s teaching on original sin and the fate of unbaptized infants but I would like to find out.
Bibliography:
Catholics United for the Faith. “What does the Church Teach About Limbo?” CUF News. 19 October 2006. Accessed 26 November 2012.
"limbo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012
Fisher, Ian. “Vatican Considers Consigning Limbo to Oblivion.” New York Times. 27 December 2005. Accessed 30 October 2012.
Fisher, Ian. “Pope Closes Limbo.” New York Times. 21 April 2007. Accessed 31 October 2012.
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. 2011. Accessed 31 October 2012.
International Theological Commission. “The Hope of Salvation for Infants who Die without being Baptised.” The Holy See. Accessed 31 October 2012.
Reuters. “Pope keeps limbo in limbo, for now.” New York Times Online. 7 October 2006. Accessed 30 October 2012.
Sahagun, Louis and Tracy Wilkonson. “Vatican Panel condemns limbo to eternal dustbin.” LA Times Online. 21 April 2007. Accessed 26 November 2012. < http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/21/world/fg-limbo21>.
Toner, Patrick. "Limbo." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 31 Oct. 2012
The University of Texas at Austin. “Limbo. Circle 1. Canto 4.” Accessed 31 October 2012.
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