Limbo and the Balitmore Catechism

[lucybeebee]

I was looking in the Baltimore Catechism No. 3 and it states the following regarding limbo:

Q. 65. Did “hell” always mean only that state in which the damned are punished?
A. The word “hell” was sometimes used to signify the grave or a low place. In the Apostles’ Creed it means Limbo.

Q. 66. Is Limbo the same place as Purgatory?
A. Limbo is not the same place as Purgatory, because the souls in Purgatory suffer, while those in Limbo do not.

Q. 67. Who were in Limbo when Our Lord descended into it?
A. There were in Limbo when Our Lord descended into it the souls of all those who died the friends of God, but could not enter heaven till the Ascension of Our Lord.

If Limbo is simply a theory, why is it taught in the Baltimore Catechism in such a way that it made it seem like it is a definite part of Church teaching?

 

[Vincent]

If Limbo is simply a theory, why is it taught in the Baltimore Catechism in such a way that it made it seem like it is a definite part of Church teaching?

Limbo in QQ.65-67 is the limbus patrum (limbo of the fathers)-- not the limbus infantium.

It is the latter that is being debated now, not the former.

Q.632 hints at the “tentative” theological status of the limbus infantium with the words “it is the common belief. . .” This number goes on to describe it as “similar to limbo (that is, the limbus patrum”) in order to distinguish the two.

 

[Genesis315]

It’s talking about limbo of the fathers–also known as Abraham’s bosom–where all the just went when they died until Christ descnded to preach to them and free them.