Do aborted babies go to Heaven?

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Palm_Tree

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If aborted babies go to Heaven, then they are all saved. What’s a main goal of a Christian? To be with God in Heaven, right? Heaven is a much better place than life on Earth, right? If you could choose whether you got to live on Earth or if you go to go straight to Heaven, you would pick Heaven, right? Our lives here on Earth are but a tiny fraction of Eternity, like a single grain of sand is just a tiny fraction of all the sand on the planet. Depending on how we live our lives here on Earth, we will either spend the rest of Eternity in Heaven (probably followed by Purgatory) or we will either spend the rest of Eternity in Hell. If aborted babies go to Heaven, then don’t they have it better than the rest of us that have to be born on this planet with the tough task of living a righteous life that keeps our souls from going to Hell? If aborted babies go to Heaven, they why are people so worried about saving the aborted babies? They are already saved, right? They go to Heaven. The people we should be worried about are the souls of the abortion doctors, their staff, the parents that have abortions, and the other people that encourage people to have abortions… it is their souls that are in severe danger of ending up in Hell for all Eternity, not the aborted babies.

If aborted babies go to Hell, that is messed up. What about a fertilized human ovum (egg cell) that dies because it falls to make it through the Fallopian tube or that dies because it fails to implant to the uterine lining? What about babies that result in a miscarriage or a stillbirth? Miscarriages can occur for many reasons, such as chromosomal abnormalities of the embryo (more likely to occur with older parents), low progesterone levels in the mother, uterine malformation, growths in the uterus (fibroids), cervical problems, pregnancies involving more than one fetus, gestational diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, preeclampsia, etc, etc, etc.

If aborted babies go to the Limbo of the Infants, then they “eternally enjoy a state of perfect natural happiness” instead of going to Heaven. (LINK) Isn’t getting to “eternally enjoy a state of perfect natural happiness” pretty much the same thing as going to Heaven? Or no?
 
Although Catholics have long believed that children who die without being baptized are with original sin and thus excluded from heaven, the Church has no formal doctrine on the matter. Theologians, however, have long taught that such children enjoy an eternal state of perfect natural happiness, a state commonly called limbo, but without being in communion with God.

THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH’S STUDY TITLED “THE HOPE OF SALVATION FOR INFANTS WHO DIE WITHOUT BEING BAPTIZED,” APPROVED BY POPE BENEDICT

In 2007, Pope Benedict approved the findings of the International Theological Commission, a Vatican advisory panel, which said (in a report entitled “The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptized”) that there were “serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific vision.”

It also said there were “strong grounds for hope that God will save infants when we have not been able to do for them what we would have wished to do, namely, to baptize them into the faith and life of the church.”

No one can know for certain what becomes of unbaptized babies since Scripture is largely silent on the matter, the report said.

After tracing the history of the various opinions that have been and are held on the eternal fate of unbaptized infants, including that connected with the theory of the Limbo of Infants, and after examining the theological arguments, the document stated its conclusion as follows:
  • Our conclusion is that the many factors that we have considered above give serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific vision. We emphasize that these are reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge. There is much that simply has not been revealed to us. We live by faith and hope in the God of mercy and love who has been revealed to us in Christ, and the Spirit moves us to pray in constant thankfulness and joy.
    What has been revealed to us is that the ordinary way of salvation is by the sacrament of baptism. None of the above considerations should be taken as qualifying the necessity of baptism or justifying delay in administering the sacrament. Rather, as we want to reaffirm in conclusion, they provide strong grounds for hope that God will save infants when we have not been able to do for them what we would have wished to do, namely, to baptize them into the faith and life of the Church. *
Pope Benedict XVI authorized publication of this document, indicating that it is considered consonant with the Church’s teaching.

The International Theological Commission is a body of Vatican- appointed theologians who advise the pope and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Benedict headed the Congregation for two decades before becoming pope in 2005.
 
THE CATECHISM

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, while affirming that “the Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude”, but also stating that “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments”, stated: “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. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.”

CCC 1257 – The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.59 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.60 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.61 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

CCC 1260 – "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery."62 **Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity. **

CCC 1261 – 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. **All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.

vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htm

NEW ADVENT CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA

The New Testament contains** no definite statement of a positive kind regarding the lot of those who die in original sin without being burdened with grievous personal guilt…The question therefore arises as to what, in the absence of a clear positive revelation on the subject, we ought in conformity with Catholic principles to believe regarding the eternal lot of such persons. Now it may confidently be said that, as the result of centuries of speculation on the subject, we ought to believe that these souls enjoy and will eternally enjoy a state of perfect natural happiness; and this is what Catholics usually mean when they speak of the limbus infantium, the “children’s limbo.”**

newadvent.org/cathen/09256a.htm
 
Um, what’s the question?

What’s the point of our lives? To know God, to learn to choose Him over ourselves, to learn to love Him by loving others. We are born with the tragic flaw the results from Original Sin. It takes time, Grace and experience to overcome that. It MUST be overcome for us to become who God wants us to be in heaven.

We simply don’t know if God replaces those lost opportunities for people killed before they ever had a chance. We DO know that we’ve been commanded to spread the gospel with all the nations.

I suspect that the answer is simply too complex for our puny human heads. They’d explode if God explained it all to us. In this case, best to just obey.
 
Your poll questions do not offer a choice that is “I believe the teaching of the Church with regard to those who die without baptism”. That is my answer.

Thou shalt not murder. Period, amen.
 
I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and it seems to me that the only viable solution to “where do aborted babies go” is Limbo. To say they go to heaven effectively denies the punishment due to Original Sin. But to say they burn in Hell in torments is not just, and our Lord is not cruel.

Can God do a work that we are unaware of? Sure! But wouldn’t we have to, since Tradition of the Church is monumentally against the unbaptized (except Catechumens, etc…) receiving the Beatific Vision, concede that unborn, unbaptized, aborted children going to heaven is the *exception *to the rule rather than its norm?

But can you blame people for wanting the unborn aborted children to go to heaven? Can’t we see the desire for hope that they would?

Sometimes I hear people say all aborted babies go to heaven. Some might even use that aformentioned recent document from the CDF to prove their point. I think that is dangerous.

Not to mention - I fail to see what the problem is with Limbo to begin with. Is it that people were upset with the teaching or practice of the Church regarding funerals that it fell out of favor? Was it because of human respect?
 
I do believe that all babies that die in the womb or outside the womb that have not committed sin go to heaven or certainly their salvation is in the hands of God. Therefore abortion does not put the afterlife of a baby in doubt and truly it is the mothers, doctors and clinic staff that we have to worry about more that have committed mortal sin and broke the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. This does not mean to say we should not feel sorry for the loss of these lives as they have still had their life shortened here on Earth and perhaps had something to contribute with their life. The effect of abortion will still have a devastating effect on mother and all the family sister, brother, grandparent will suffer the loss of this child. If you are worried about someone specifically then you should ask to see a priest.
 
So far, 25% (1 out of 4) of the voters think that aborted babies go to Hell. Can the people that think aborted babies go to Hell provide a reasonable explanation as to why you believe this?
 
Just a point of clarification - technically the theory of Limbo says that Limbo for infants is actually in Hell. In other words, they are separated from the Beatific Vision but thats it Sometimes it is thought of as the top level of “Hell”. However they supposedly do not suffer any pains or torments.

I once heard someone say that the pain in limbo is equivalent to the pain you feel by not being able to have a house on the moon. Perfectly happy for all eternity, but no moon-house.

Btw, I’m the lone voice for Limbo in the poll apparently!
 
They are the innocent victims of an unjust “medical procedure”. A baby that has been aborted has committed NO CRIME…why would they not be able to get to Heaven? God is merciful. Perhaps they receive what is called “Baptism of Desire”?

And I am pretty sure that Limbo is not an official doctrine.
 
Your poll didn’t have the one correct answer: aborted babies are left to the merciful hands of God, (whether that means heaven or hell is not for us to decide) He judges perfectly.
 
E.E.N.S said:
Your poll didn’t have the one correct answer: aborted babies are left to the merciful hands of God, (whether that means heaven or hell is not for us to decide) He judges perfectly.
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Then vote for “I have no idea” whether aborted babies go to Heaven or not, and explain that the reason you have no idea whether aborted babies go to Heaven or not is because aborted babies are left to the merciful hands of God and his perfect judgment, and that you are incapable or unwilling to draw any further conclusions/assumptions from this regarding the issue of whether aborted babies go to Heaven or not.
 
mattwcu said:
Just a point of clarification - technically the theory of Limbo says that Limbo for infants is actually in Hell. In other words, they are separated from the Beatific Vision but thats it Sometimes it is thought of as the top level of “Hell”. However they supposedly do not suffer any pains or torments.

I once heard someone say that the pain in limbo is equivalent to the pain you feel by not being able to have a house on the moon. Perfectly happy for all eternity, but no moon-house.

Btw, I’m the lone voice for Limbo in the poll apparently!
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I’ve heard it said that the first level of hell is like a blah day – sort of cloudy and overcast where you are bored and have nothing to do and don’t feel like doing anything anyway.
 
jediliz said:
They are the innocent victims of an unjust “medical procedure”. A baby that has been aborted has committed NO CRIME…why would they not be able to get to Heaven? God is merciful. Perhaps they receive what is called “Baptism of Desire”?

And I am pretty sure that Limbo is not an official doctrine.
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Well all of mankind suffers the punishments due to original sin. We baptized still suffer its effects. And how can an unborn baby desire anything? But since they have committed no personal sin, it would only be just and merciful for God to send them to a place of peace and eternal happiness, because he is merciful. Our God loves all, even the people suffering in Hell, because he keeps them in existence.

And you are right, Limbo isn’t an official doctrine. But it is a theory which is backed up by the Church fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Church’s own practice for centuries.

Nevertheless, God is (as the Catechism says) not bound by the sacraments, though we are. So if aborted babies do go to heaven it would be the exception to the rule by an extra-ordinary act of God.

Does anyone believe we should be teaching the exception as the rule? Or could that perhaps create confusion regarding sound doctrine?
 
I can’t possibly imagine a scenario in which aborted babies go to hell (or any

Expand the question to *any *and all deaths before birth, and you’ll find yourself in a logical nightmare. Miscarriage, for example. Does a miscarried baby go to hell? What if the parents were Catholics who intended to have the baby baptized? Baptism by desire? What if the parents were Protestants who were very devout Evangelicals and didn’t plan to have the baby baptized? Hell? What about a baby who is stillborn, but is baptized anyway “because we can’t know for certain when the soul leaves the body”? What about a Christian mother in China forced by the government to have an unwanted abortion? Heaven or hell?

In the Archdiocese where I live, the human remains after a miscarriage in a Catholic hospital are buried in consecrated ground in one of the Catholic cemeteries.

I believe that the Divine Mercy is more than sufficient.
 
I responded, “I have no idea” for I do not presume to know the Mystery of God’s Love for his aborted children. This is an unthinkable crime against all human dignity and against God’s creation. Not even the Saints of our Church could consider something so heinous in their writings. May God have Mercy on us.

Peter
 
Peter_Smith said:
Abortion is an unthinkable crime against all human dignity and against God’s creation. Not even the Saints of our Church could consider something so heinous in their writings. May God have Mercy on us.
Peter
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What do you mean? Christians have been denoucing abortion since at least 200 AD.

For example, I have book here in front of me with excerpts from Sexuality and Family Life by Christian apologist **Athenagoras **(circa 133-190 AD), where he writes in Chapter XXXV that “those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion.”

From the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia:
*
The first reference to [abortion] is found in the books attributed to Hippocrates, who required physicians to bind themselves by oath not to give to women drinks fatal to the child in the womb.
…
Three centuries later we meet with the first record of laws enacted by the State to check this crime. Exile was decreed against mothers guilty of it; while those who administered the potion to procure it were, if nobles, sent to certain islands, if plebeians, condemned to work in the metal mines. Still the Romans in their legislation appear to have aimed at punishing the wrong done by abortion to the father or the mother, rather than the wrong done to the unborn child. The early Christians are the first on record as having pronounced abortion to be the murder of human beings, for their public apologists, Athenagoras, Tertullian, and Minutius Felix (Eschbach, “Disp. Phys.”, Disp. iii), to refute the slander that a child was slain, and its flesh eaten, by the guests at the Agapae, appealed to their laws as forbidding all manner of murder, even that of children in the womb. The Fathers of the Church unanimously maintained the same doctrine. In the fourth century **the Council of Eliberis **decreed that Holy Communion should be refused all the rest of her life, even on her deathbed, to an adulteress who had procured the abortion of her child. The Sixth Ecumenical Council determined for the whole Church that anyone who procured abortion should bear all the punishments inflicted on murderers. *

newadvent.org/cathen/01046b.htm
 
Just for reference, here is a section of the Summa from St. Thomas Aquinas regarding Limbo, and whether or not Limbo of the Fathers and Limbo of Children is the same.

Article 6. Whether the limbo of children is the same as the limbo of the Fathers?

Objection 1. It would seem that the limbo of children is the same as the limbo of the Fathers. For punishment should correspond to sin. Now the Fathers were detained in limbo for the same sin as children, namely for original sin. Therefore the place of punishment should be the same for both.

Objection 2. Further, Augustine says (Enchir. xciii): “The punishment of children who die in none but original sin is most lenient.” But no punishment is more lenient than that of the holy Fathers. Therefore the place of punishment is the same for both.

On the contrary, Even as temporal punishment in purgatory and eternal punishment in hell are due to actual sin, so temporal punishment in the limbo of the Fathers and eternal punishment in the limbo of the children were due to original sin. If, therefore, hell and purgatory be not the same it would seem that neither are the limbo of children and the limbo of the Fathers the same.

**I answer that, **The limbo of the Fathers and the limbo of children, without any doubt, differ as to the quality of punishment or reward. For children have no hope of the blessed life, as the Fathers in limbo had, in whom, moreover, shone forth the light of faith and grace. But as regards their situation, there is reason to believe that the place of both is the same; except that the limbo of the Fathers is placed higher than the limbo of children, just as we have stated in reference to limbo and hell (5).

Reply to Objection 1. The Fathers did not stand in the same relation to original sin as children. For in the Fathers original sin was expiated in so far as it infected the person, while there remained an obstacle on the part of nature, on account of which their satisfaction was not yet complete. On the other hand, in children there is an obstacle both on the part of the person and on the part of nature: and for this reason different abodes are appointed to the Fathers and to children.

Reply to Objection 2. Augustine is speaking of punishments due to some one by reason of his person. Of these the most lenient are due to those who are burdened with none but original sin. But lighter still is the punishment due to those who are debarred from the reception of glory by no personal defect but only by a defect of nature, so that this very delay of glory is called a kind of punishment.
Notice that Augustine (5th Century) is talking about the punishment of children who die without baptism as “most lenient.” He is saying though that the Fathers (before Christ) had an even less punishment, most likely it was practically Heaven, than the children who die without baptism. God is merciful, he is love.

Nevertheless, the Church never officially spoke. But evidence for limbo in Tradition is huge. I wonder though…could a case be made that the unborn are invincibly ignorant?
 
you make a good point mattcwu, however, even though we are ALL born with the stain of original sin, only those who die with MORTAL SIN on their souls do directly to HELL.

Aborted babies are the victim of a mortal sin, they didn’t commit the sin themselves.

God is MERCIFUL and I am sure he is not going to PUNISH his special gifts of life with eternal separation from him.
 
I absolutely cannot imagine the Christ of the New Testament who I have come to know, love, worship, and adore, in His infinite kindness and love for children would allow such a callous act as sending an aborted baby to hell, to happen. It’s insane. If salvation is possible for non-Christians and protestants as per our catechism, then it just seems painfully obvious from common sense that a loving God would save these children. I was shocked at the amount of people on that poll that actually think Christ, who died for our sins so lovingly, would permit these innocents to perish do to the evil of their parents…if that’s the case then God help us all…
 
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