Last December, 2005, thirty revered Theologians from all over the Catholic world met at the Vatican. They constituted the INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION and convened to discuss at length, what happens to children who die without the benefit of receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. In other words, "LIMBO" was the main agenda.

"LIMBO", as a theological term, and as defined by the CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, refers to "the temporary place or state of the souls of the just who, although purified from sin, were excluded from the Beatific Vision until Christ’s triumphant ascension into Heaven." It also refers to "the permanent place or state of those unbaptized children and others who, dying without grievous personal sin, are excluded from the Beatific Vision on account of original sin alone."

The concept of Limbo was never an official church doctrine although it remains a major element in Church Tradition. Eminent saints and Theologians like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas had different views about it.

St. Augustine, a firm believer in original sin, had an influential hand in a Council of Carthage in year 418 AD. He rejected the idea of a place that may be construed as an in-between place, a place in between heaven and hell. Hence he believed that baptism was a necessary element for one to be allowed to experience the Beatific Vision. It is said, however, that in later writings, he proffered that the kind of hell for these babies would be of the "mildest of conditions".

Subsequently, St. Anselm shared this notion of St. Augustine that unbaptized children were doomed to "the positive sufferings of the dammed".

St. Abelard opposed the severe Augustinian theory and proposed that "there was no guilt, but only punishment in the proper notion of original sin." This however, was condemned by the Council of Soissons in 1140.

Subsequently, this proposition eventually paved the way for Pope Innocent III to write that "those dying with only original sin on their souls will suffer no other pain, whether from material fire or from the worm of conscience, except the pain of being deprived forever of the Vision of God". Here, the unbaptized children are supposed to experience the pain of loss forever. But then one may ask: isn’t this pain of loss, or eternal deprivation of the Beatific Vision a greater and more grievous penalty?

Descent of Christ to Limbo 1365-68, Fresco, Cappella Spagnuolo, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Comes now the great St. Thomas Aquinas. In breaking away from the Augustinian theory, he maintains that "limbus infantium" or the "Limbo of the Children" is a place or state of "perfect natural happiness." Thus he believes that they do not suffer any such pain of loss.

The CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA says it beautifully: "St. Thomas held this absence of subjective suffering to be compatible with a consciousness of objective loss or privation, the resignation of such souls to the ways of God’s Providence being so perfect that a knowledge of what they had lost through no fault of their own does not interfere with the full knowledge of the natural goods they possess. …..It should be added that St. Thomas’ view, the limbus infantium is not a mere negative state of immunity from suffering and sorrow, but a state of positive happiness in which the soul is united to God by a knowledge and love of Him proportionate to nature’s capacity."

If there is a Limbo of the Babies, there is also a Limbo of the Fathers, or what others call "Abraham’s Bosom." This is supposed to be the place where people who lived good lives had to wait till Christ redeemed mankind by dying on the cross.

The belief of St. Thomas Aquinas was reaffirmed in 1905 by Pope Pius X when he said in no uncertain terms that "children who die without baptism go to limbo, where they do not enjoy God, but they do not suffer either."

During the 1960’s, the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, known for its reforms and broader thinking, held that through the mystery of Christ’s redemptive power, salvation is possible for all, to the exclusion of no one.

Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical letter "Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), advised his flock to trust in God’s mercy and love, as he addressed the issue of the fate of the victims of abortion, babies who had not been baptized. He then asked the INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION to convene and discuss the fate of unbaptized babies.

The CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, consistent with the Second Vatican Council and the thoughts of Pope John Paul II,

 likewise invokes the mercy of God as the saving factor in this issue. It finds comfort in the words of the Lord: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them." (Mark 10:14)

The final report of the INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION is expected to be out a year after they convened. In the meantime, we pray for the unbaptized babies as we continue to have faith in the mercy and love of a merciful and loving God, and in the redemptive power of our Lord, Jesus Christ, for all mankind.