A Zenit interview with Father Peter Gumpel tackles the issue of death prior to baptism,
which
I wrote about a few days ago.
What the Church Has Said About Children Who Die Without Baptism
Although in history there have been different opinions, the supreme magisterium of the Church offers very precise documents and affirmations.
Annie Banno, co-blogger of After Abortion, sent me a link to an article she wrote for Catholic Exchange, entitled "All Souls In Purgatory, Or Not?".
One priest said, “For most of history, the Church taught that unbaptized babies go to ‘limbo.’ This was not hell, but a place of peace. They can not enjoy the eternal blessedness of the Lord because original sin was not wiped away.
“The Church’s understanding has been stated differently in the last thirty years. ‘Limbo’ is no longer used. We know that God is abundantly merciful, and desires that all children come to Him (Matt 19:14, 1 Tim 2:4). Therefore, our great hope is that they are in heaven, but we cannot say with certainty. You are encouraged to pray for your baby.”
This ties in with the previous post. There’s an interesting post at Joe Missionary, with equally interesting comments, about the fate of infants that die prior to baptism. Since, when I just point to interesting stuff, most people don’t seem to bother to click through, I’ll post some excerpts to whet your appetites. I encourage you to head on over and join the conversation. This kind of dialogue is part of the New Evangelization John Paull II has called for.
The following were posted to a Yahoo! group I belong to. Issues discussed include infant baptism and assurance of salvation, so I’m sure at least the Catholic apologists’ ears will be pricked. 😉
Please respond with comments. I’ll pass them along to the group.
[Minor mistakes of grammar and spelling have been fixed. – Funky]
Theomorph, my resident atheist gadfly, seems to be losing his cool. His latest tirade against Christianity lacks the kind of logical consistency and civility his previous posts had. Continue reading