Came from another RCIA class, not really sure what to make of this.
I was told that before, the Catholic Church taught that unbaptized infants went to Limbo (ie. the Limbo of the Patriarchs). Or rather, our previous understanding of hell, not Hell. But the Church changed it’s position, and now says that unbaptized infants go to heaven. And that the belief it Purgatory is optional. Admittedly, I bought a older, used version of the Catechism…but Purgatory is indeed in there.
The Church can change these positions? Does that mean it can change its position on the Immaculate Conception & the Assumption too? I understand traditions like the burial of those who committed suicide, or slapping the face at Confirmation being changed, but doctrine makes things questionable for me.
Simple, clear, traditional Catholic answer to avoid confusion please, thanks.
As always, it is only a hope.
Read it here from the Vatican:
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070419_un-baptised-infants_en.html
“…there are theological and liturgical reasons to hope that infants who die without baptism may be saved and brought into eternal happiness, even if there is not an explicit teaching on this question found in Revelation. However, none of the considerations proposed in this text to motivate a new approach to the question may be used to negate the necessity of baptism, nor to delay the conferral of the sacrament. Rather, there are reasons to hope that God will save these infants precisely because it was not possible to do for them that what would have been most desirable— to baptize them in the faith of the Church and incorporate them visibly into the Body of Christ.”
Previously we read in Baltimore Catechism No. 3
Q. 401. Whither did Christ’s soul go after His death?
A. After Christ’s death His soul descended into hell.
Q. 402. Did Christ’s soul descend into the hell of the damned?
A. The hell into which Christ’s soul descended was not the hell of the dammed, but a place or state of rest called Limbo, where the souls of the just were waiting for Him.
Q. 403. Why did Christ descend into Limbo?
A. Christ descended into Limbo to preach to the souls who were in prison – that is, to announce to them the joyful tidings of their redemption.
Q. 416. Who were present at the ascension and who ascended with Christ?
A. From various parts of Scripture we may conclude there were about 125 persons – though traditions tell us there was a greater number – present at the Ascension. They were the Apostles, the Disciples, the pious women and others who had followed Our Blessed Lord. The souls of the just who were waiting in Limbo for the redemption ascended with Christ.
Q. 632. Where will persons go who – such as infants – have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism?
A. Persons, such as infants, who have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism, cannot enter heaven; but it is the common belief they will go to some place similar to Limbo, where they will be free from suffering, though deprived of the happiness of heaven.
The Baltimore Catechism is an approved teaching of the Magisterium, so it is not wrong to quote it. There is a distinction that is often missed: there is more than the two states of Heaven and Hell (Gehenna), there are also other states (example Purgatory). There is more than salvation to our futures, there is also greater glory for those that have great good works, and lesser glory for those that have lesser good works. From the Vatican, under Greek Fathers we read some of the logic that has been used:“Pseudo-Athanasios says clearly that an unbaptised person cannot enter the Kingdom of God. He also asserts that unbaptised children will not enter the Kingdom, but neither will they be lost, for they have not sinned.”
vatican.va/roman_curia/co…nfants_en.html
