A theological investigation and explanation of what the church believes can help the church have "a more coherent and enlightened pastoral practice" in situations surrounded by pain for the loss of a new life, the pope said Oct. 7 during a meeting with members of the International Theological Commission.
Catholics used to speak about "limbo" as the place where unbaptized babies spent eternity; while they were incapable of committing a sin that would merit hell or require reparation in purgatory, the stain of original sin was believed to keep them from enjoying full communion with God.
According to an Oct. 6 statement, the 30 members of the International Theological Commission took up the question of "the fate of children who have died without baptism" during their Oct. 4-8 meeting at the Vatican.
The discussion, it said, was framed "in the context of the universal salvific plan of God, of the uniqueness of Christ's mediation and of the sacramentality of the church in the order of salvation."
The president of the commission is Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Limbo, never officially defined by the church, was a theological concept developed in the Middle Ages that said unbaptized babies would spend eternity in a state of "natural happiness," but would not enjoy the perfect communion with God that comes through baptism into Jesus Christ.
The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" lists "limbo" in the index, but the word does not appear within the text.
The index refers readers to a paragraph (No. 1261) that says:
"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,' allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without baptism," the catechism says.
Sister Sara Butler, a member of the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity and professor of dogmatic theology at the New York Archdiocese's St. Joseph's Seminary, Yonkers, said that immediately prior to the Second Vatican Council many Catholic theologians were taking a new look at original sin, limbo and the problem of salvation for unbaptized babies.
Sister Butler said the Second Vatican Council's reforms and the new theological challenges it posed placed the question of unbaptized babies on the back burner for most theologians, but many bishops around the world have asked the doctrinal congregation for guidance on the question.
She said the issue touches on many important practical and theological issues, including "the pastoral care of parents who lose a child" and "what the church hopes for children who do not have Christian parents" and, therefore, have no chance for baptism.
"If you are too positive and say, 'God is so good, he saves everyone,' then you are saying you don't need baptism," Sister Butler said.
For Catholics, and for Christians in general, she said, "baptism is the only sure way we know for salvation," although Christians hope and trust that somehow through Christ's mediation and the work of the church, the good and the innocent who were not baptized also may be saved.
In March, Sister Butler and Barbara Hallensleben, who teaches dogmatic theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, became the first women members of the International Theological Commission.
Sister Butler told Catholic News Service that she and Hallensleben were welcomed to the commission along with the other new members, but were not singled out as the first women theologians appointed to the body. Nor were they asked to provide a "woman's perspective" on the topics discussed, she said.
"In this case, the lay people who are parents were the ones who would have had something special to say," she said.
During his Oct. 7 meeting with commission members, Pope John Paul also applauded their decision to take up a study of natural moral law.
"It always has been the conviction of the church that God gave man the ability to arrive, with the light of his reason, at an understanding of the fundamental truths about his life and his destiny and, concretely, at the norms of correct action," the pope said.
What does baptism do?
And what about those who are not ministered to by a Missionary or Priest, who nevertheless have been touched by the Holy Ghost and believe? Even if their belief is not accompanied by full immersion in dogma, mainly due to an inablity to receive The Word. What happens to those people?
This is not correct. From the Catholic Encyclopedia,
It is principally on the strength of these Scriptural texts, harmonized with the general doctrine of the Fall and Redemption of mankind, that Catholic tradition has defended the existence of the limbus patrum as a temporary state or place of happiness distinct from Purgatory.
I already like this thread but I know it can get better! :-)
Bump!
This post and topic oozes election from every pore.
Part of the problem is the belief in the false doctrine of 'original sin' in the first place.
Unbaptised babies, both born and unborn, who have died sit at the knee of the Lord, I am as sure of that as I am that God is.