'No U-turn on limbo'

The news which emerged a couple of weeks ago regarding the existence of limbo has caused quite a stir among believers, particularly those who are past middle age. The news was sparked off by a Vatican announcement that a document by top theologians had concluded that it would make more sense to hope that children who die before being baptised would go to heaven than that they would go to limbo. Such a statement, though very welcome, could not but confuse some, if not most minds. Reference to limbo is found in the Creed, which is recited daily by the faithful.

For centuries Catholics were taught that children, born or unborn, who died before being baptised could not enter heaven; nor would they be condemned to eternal damnation but sent to limbo, a sort of a neutral place where they would not be made to suffer but would be denied the beatific vision. Many are now asking: Has the Church changed her teachings?

A well-known UK theologian who is also secretary of the Liturgy Commission of the bishops of England and Wales, Fr Allen Morris, has denied that the Church has made a U-turn on limbo. "If limbo does exist it is not in the Church's power to abolish it," he was quoted as saying. He emphasised that the document was "not the last word on the matter, which would be the subject of further intense study and prayer by theologians. Limbo has not been taught as a doctrine... It is a theological and philosophical problem. Some people may have understood it to be doctrine. It worked well in cultures and times past but the question is, is it healthy and helpful today?"

Last December the secretary general of the International Theological Commission, the Jesuit Fr Luis Ladera, when speaking about the document on Vatican Radio, stated that "there is no dogmatic definition" and "no binding Catholic doctrine on limbo". The Catholic Times (UK) quoted a number of priests and theologians on the question. They seem to agree that the limbo thesis is no longer acceptable. A chaplain to a miscarriage support group stated that "there has never been any hesitation on my part... I am sure that God would do the thing that is right and just and bring such a child (unbaptised) to heaven because the child has not committed any personal sin."

A theologian who is also principal of Heythrop College expressed the same opinion and stated that a child who dies before he/she is baptised "is now embraced by God in heaven". An Australian priest who is a member of the International Theological Commission was reported to have said that "the limbo hypothesis was the common teaching of the Catholic Church until the 1950s. In the past it was quietly dropped."

More than 20 years ago the present Pope, then head of the Congregation of the Faith, in an interview which was later published in book form had said: "Limbo was never defined as a truth of faith. Personally, and here I am speaking more as a theologian and not as Prefect of the Congregation, I would abandon it since it was only a theological hypothesis."

The then Cardinal Ratzinger said later that "limbo had been used to justify the necessity of baptising infants as early as possible". He added that John Paul II "without fanfare" had "expressed the simple hope that God is powerful enough to draw to Himself all those who are unable to receive the sacrament (of baptism)."

All this makes a great deal of sense and is welcome, particularly by parents who lost children before being baptised. However it would be wise if the faithful were to be kept informed of recent developments and told about the latest interpretations of a matter which they, wrongly, have believed to be a dogma of the Catholic Church.