Did Christ atone for the sins of those in OT too?

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The following paragraph is part of the definition of atonement from The Modern Catholic Dictionary, by Fr. John Hardon†, S.J. My thanks to po18guy for finding this.​

Applied to Christ the Redeemer, through his suffering and death he rendered vicarious atonement to God for the sins of the whole human race. His atonement is fully adequate because it was performed by a divine person. In fact, it is superabundant because the positive value of Christ’s expiation is actually greater than the negative value of human sin. (Etym. Middle English at one , to set at one, to reconcile; of one mind, in accord.)​

My question is this: Did Christ atone for the sins of those who had already died before his time, and does that mean everyone in the OT gets a pass for their sins, even if they never repented? How will they be judged?

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Norm
 
Those in the OT who lived righteous lives were judged by God upon death and sent to the Limbo of the Fathers, a place which was pleasant but they could not enjoy the Beatific Vision in Heaven as Christ had not yet redeemed humanity. When Christ died, he “descended into Hell” which in the original language did not mean Hell as we think of it today, but rather Sheol, the Jewish term for the place where the dead were, and Jesus then opened the gates of Heaven to all humans who had died before him and led righteous lives, as they were now all fully redeemed by Christ’s death. This would include all the OT righteous people, and such NT righteous people as St. Simeon, St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist, who had all died before Jesus.

Those who had sinned and not repented would go to Purgatory or Hell instead.
 
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Christ’s sacrifice is timeless in that, while it took place at a specific point in history, it is universally applied to all ages, including those which occurred before and those that have (and will) occurred after. Saint Paul wants us to be assured of this, as he tells the Corinthians that their Jewish ancestors were all baptized into Christ by their passage through the Red Sea, and that they all drank from the wellspring of Salvation through the “rock that followed them, which was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). His atoning sacrifice is for people of all times, so long as they died in God’s friendship.
 
Here’s a cool painting by Blessed Fra Angelico showing Jesus letting the righteous out of Limbo to go to Heaven. I like how they are all running.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
The explanation to your question is found in 1st Peter’s letter.

In particular this verse:

Peter 3:19 And in the Spirit, he preached to those who were in prison, going to those souls.

In the Spirit, it means that Jesus when he was dead between Good Friday and Sunday morning went to preach the Good news to those who had passed before HIS coming. And HE Jesus freed them from the “prison” and took them to Heaven with HIM.
Now no one in the prison was cast into Hell (The real one). We have the explanation on this from Jesus Himself here:

Luke 16:22 Then it happened that the beggar died, and he was carried by the Angels into the bosom of Abraham. Now the wealthy man also died, and he was entombed in Hell.
Luke 16:23 Then lifting up his eyes, while he was in torments, he saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Jesus did make a distinction that Hell is a place of torment from where there is no return. So the “Prison” was the “bosom of Abraham”.
 
We even have a feast day of Sts. Adam and Eve (the day before Christmas).
 
636 By the expression “He descended into hell”, the Apostles’ Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil “who has the power of death” ( Heb 2:14).

637 In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven’s gates for the just who had gone before him.We affirm it in the Creed

[634] "The gospel was preached even to the dead."484 The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfilment. This is the last phase of Jesus’ messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ’s redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a5p1.htm
 
Yes, Christ died sufficiently for all men (and efficiently for the elect), from the old and new testaments.
 
Those saved in the OT also had to be penitent/just. As Jesus explained in JerryZ’s post, there was a divide between them and the unjust.

From what I understand, Jesus preached to these just souls so that the could place their faith in Him (which was anticipatory in life) and be saved, since faith comes through hearing.
Rom. 10:13 For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”14 But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? 15 And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!” 16 But they have not all heeded the gospel; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
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