The Fifth Article of the Apostle’s Creed:
He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
The Catechism of Pope St. Pius X
- Q. What are we taught in the Fifth Article: He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead?
A. The Fifth Article of the Creed teaches us that the Soul of Jesus Christ, on being separated from His Body, descended to the Limbo of the holy Fathers, and that on the third day it became united once more to His Body, never to be parted from it again.
‘Limbo’ is simply a term for this place – it also sometimes referred to as ‘the bosom of Abraham’ or ‘the paradise of the fathers’.]
1 Q. When should infants be brought to the Church to be baptised?
A. Infants should be brought to the Church to be baptised as soon as possible.
12 Q. Why such anxiety to have infants receive Baptism?
A. There should be the greatest anxiety to have infants baptised because, on account of their tender age, they are exposed to many dangers of death, and cannot be saved without Baptism.
1 Q. Do parents sin, then, who, through negligence, allow their children to die without Baptism, or who defer it?
A. Yes, fathers and mothers who, through negligence, allow their children to die without Baptism sin grievously, because they deprive their children of eternal life; and they also sin grievously by putting off Baptism for a long time, because they expose them to danger of dying without having received it.
Baltimore Catechism
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 damned, 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. 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 term limbo is just a word used to refer to a place outside of heaven, and so without the beatific vision, but without the sufferings of Hell that are caused by personal sins, because these do not exist and so there is no punishment given them.
Original sin alone deprives one of Heaven, and this is what has happened to those who die in it but without having grown old enough to sin particularly, they cannot enter Heaven but do not deserve the particular punishments of Hell.
Without the grace provided by baptism, the beatific vision (i.e. Heaven) is not achievable so this is the necessary place for people who without it have died but deserve no particular punishment. They do not gain the supernatural rewards of Heaven but gain at least the natural goods of God.
“Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
John 3:5