Victor R. Claveau, MJ
The Limbo of the Infants means that those who die with only original sin on their souls cannot reach the beatific vision. This has been plainly stated in the Second Council of Lyon (AD 1274) in the Profession of Faith, and the Council of Florence (AD 1439) in the Decree for the Greeks. However, since there is a natural repugnance to the belief that those who have committed no sin should be tortured in hell, theologians have adopted various theories to account for souls in this state.
Saint Bernard thought that such infants might be saved by the faith of their parents, that God might be pleased to supply baptism in this way. Some thought that the lack of baptism might be supplied by the wish for the sacrament on the part of the parents.
Saint Augustine and the African Fathers believed that unbaptized infants share in the misery of the damned, and the very most that he concedes is that their punishment is the mildest of all, so mild indeed that one may not say that for them non-existence would be preferable to existence in such a state.[1]
Saint Augustine describes his understanding of the punishment an unbaptized soul will undergo in his Letter to Saint Jerome (28):
“But when I come to the pains suffered by infants, I am, I assure you, brought to great straits, and cannot find anything at all to answer: I mean not only those pains which after this life do attend that condemnation to which they must go, if they die without the sacrament of the Christian grace, but those which in this life we see with our eyes, and it grieves us to see; which if I should go to count, I should sooner want time than instances. They languish with sickness, they are tortured with pains, they are afflicted with hunger and thirst, maimed in their limbs, deprived of their senses, tormented with unclean spirits.”[2]
The majority of theologians, including Saint Thomas Aquinas thought that infants dying in original sin suffer no “pain of sense,” but are simply excluded from heaven. Saint Gregory Nazianzen agreed with this. As Saint Thomas puts it, such infants do not suffer because the pain of punishment comes only from personal guilt, of which there is none. They do not grieve because they do not see God. In addition, that they rejoice because they share in God’s goodness and in many natural perfections. They know and love God by use of their natural powers.
According to God’s universal salvific will, we believe that somehow, He gives each and every person the opportunity of reaching heaven. The “baptism of desire,” defined by the Council of Trent, assumes sufficient mental maturity to make an act of faith and love of God.
The Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, II, 16, states:
“There are people who are in ignorance of Christ’s Gospel and of his Church through no fault of their own, and who search for God in sincerity of heart; they attempt to put into practice the recognition of his will that they have reached through the dictate of conscience. They do so under the influence of divine grace; they can attain everlasting salvation.” By implication, their children who die before the age of reason can also be saved.Who is to say that at the moment of death God does not provide the soul of a child without personal sin the opportunity of salvation? As God gave the angels the opportunity to choose,[3] as well as our first parents, Adam and Eve, it stands to reason that He would do the same for infants. We must simply trust in the infinite mercy of God.
The theme, The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized, was placed under the study of the International Theological Commission. The general discussion on the theme took place during the plenary sessions held in Rome, in October 2005 and October 2006. This text was approved in forma specifica by the members of the Commission, and was subsequently submitted to its President, Cardinal William Levada who, upon receiving the approval of the Holy father in an audience granted on January 19, 2007, approved the text for publication. What follows is the Introduction to this document:
1. St Peter encourages Christians to be always ready to give an account of the hope that is in them (cf. 1 Pet 3:15-16). This document deals with the hope that Christians can have for the salvation of unbaptized infants who die. It indicates how such a hope has developed in recent decades and what its grounds are, so as to enable an account of that hope to be given. Though at first sight this topic may seem to be peripheral to theological concerns, questions of great depth and complexity are involved in its proper explication, and such an explication is called for today by pressing pastoral needs.
2. In these times, the number of infants who die unbaptized is growing greatly. This is partly because of parents, influenced by cultural relativism and religious pluralism, who are non-practicing, but it is also partly a consequence of in vitro fertilization and abortion. Given these developments, the question of the destiny of such infants is raised with new urgency. In such a situation, the ways by which salvation may be achieved appear ever more complex and problematic. The Church, faithful guardian of the way of salvation, knows that salvation can be achieved only in Christ, by the Holy Spirit. Yet, as mother and teacher, she cannot fail to reflect on the destiny of all human beings, created in the image of God, and especially of the weakest. Being endowed with reason, conscience and freedom, adults are responsible for their own destiny in so far as they accept or reject God’s grace. Infants, however, who do not yet have the use of reason, conscience and freedom, cannot decide for themselves. Parents experience great grief and feelings of guilt when they do not have the moral assurance of the salvation of their children, and people find it increasingly difficult to accept that God is just and merciful if he excludes infants, who have no personal sins, from eternal happiness, whether they are Christian or non-Christian. From a theological point of view, the development of a theology of hope and an ecclesiology of communion, together with a recognition of the greatness of divine mercy, challenge an unduly restrictive view of salvation. In fact, the universal salvific will of God and the correspondingly universal mediation of Christ mean that all theological notions that ultimately call into question the very omnipotence of God, and his mercy in particular, are inadequate.
3. The idea of Limbo, which the Church has used for many centuries to designate the destiny of infants who die without Baptism, has no clear foundation in revelation, even though it has long been used in traditional theological teaching. Moreover, the notion that infants who die without Baptism are deprived of the beatific vision, which has for so long been regarded as the common doctrine of the Church, gives rise to numerous pastoral problems, so much so that many pastors of souls have asked for a deeper reflection on the ways of salvation. The necessary reconsideration of the theological issues cannot ignore the tragic consequences of original sin. Original sin implies a state of separation from Christ, and that excludes the possibility of the vision of God for those who die in that state.
4. Reflecting on the question of the destiny of infants who die without Baptism, the ecclesial community must keep in mind the fact that God is more properly the subject than the object of theology. The first task of theology is therefore to listen to the Word of God. Theology listens to the Word of God expressed in the Scriptures in order to communicate it lovingly to all people. However, with regard to the salvation of those who die without Baptism, the Word of God says little or nothing. It is therefore necessary to interpret the reticence of Scripture on this issue in the light of texts concerning the universal plan of salvation and the ways of salvation. In short, the problem both for theology and for pastoral care is how to safeguard and reconcile two sets of biblical affirmations: those concerning God’s universal salvific will (cf. 1 Tim 2:4) and those regarding the necessity of Baptism as the way of being freed from sin and conformed to Christ (cf. Mk 16:16; Mt 28:18-19).
5. Secondly, taking account of the principle lex orandi lex credendi, the Christian community notes that there is no mention of Limbo in the liturgy. In fact, the liturgy contains a feast of the Holy Innocents, who are venerated as martyrs, even though they were not baptized, because they were killed “on account of Christ”. There has even been an important liturgical development through the introduction of funerals for infants who died without Baptism. We do not pray for those who are damned. The Roman Missal of 1970 introduced a Funeral Mass for unbaptized infants whose parents intended to present them for Baptism. The Church entrusts to God’s mercy those infants who die unbaptized. In its 1980 Instruction on Children’s Baptism, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirmed that: “with regard to children who die without having received Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as indeed she does in the funeral rite established for them”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) adds that: “the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved [1Tim 2:4], and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: ‘Let the children come to me, do not hinder them’ (Mk 10:14), allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism”.
6. Thirdly, the Church cannot fail to encourage the hope of salvation for infants who die without Baptism by the very fact that she “prays that no one should be lost”, and prays in hope for “all to be saved”. On the basis of an anthropology of solidarity, strengthened by an ecclesial understanding of corporate personality, the Church knows the help that can be given by the faith of believers. The Gospel of Mark actually describes an occasion when the faith of some was effective for the salvation of another (cf. Mk 2:5). So, while knowing that the normal way to achieve salvation in Christ is by Baptism in re, the Church hopes that there may be other ways to achieve the same end. Because, by his Incarnation, the Son of God “in a certain way united himself” with every human being, and because Christ died for all and all are in fact “called to one and the same destiny, which is divine”, the Church believes that “the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery” (GS 22).
7. Finally, when reflecting theologically on the salvation of infants who die without Baptism, the Church respects the hierarchy of truths and therefore begins by clearly reaffirming the primacy of Christ and his grace, which has priority over Adam and sin. Jesus Christ, in his existence for us and in the redemptive power of his sacrifice, died and rose again for all. By his whole life and teaching, he revealed the fatherhood of God and his universal love. While the necessity of Baptism is de fide, the tradition and the documents of the magisterium which have reaffirmed this necessity need to be interpreted. While it is true that the universal salvific will of God is not opposed to the necessity of Baptism, it is also true that infants, for their part, do not place any personal obstacle in the way of redemptive grace. On the other hand, Baptism is administered to infants, who are free from personal sins, not only in order to free them from original sin, but also to insert them into the communion of salvation which is the Church, by means of communion in the death and resurrection of Christ (cf. Rom 6:1-7). Grace is totally free, because it is always a pure gift of God. Damnation, however, is deserved, because it is the consequence of free human choice. The infant who dies with Baptism is saved by the grace of Christ and through the intercession of the Church, even without his or her cooperation. It can be asked whether the infant who dies without Baptism, but for whom the Church in its prayer expresses the desire for salvation, can be deprived of the vision of God even without his or her cooperation.”
The conclusion of this study is that there are theological and liturgical reasons to hope that infants who die without baptism may be saved and brought into eternal happiness, even if there is not an explicit teaching on this question found in Revelation. However, none of the considerations proposed in this text to motivate a new approach to the question may be used to negate the necessity of baptism, nor to delay the conferral of the sacrament. Rather, there are reasons to hope that God will save these infants precisely because it was not possible to do for them that what would have been most desirable— to baptize them in the faith of the Church and incorporate them visibly into the Body of Christ.
[1] Of Sin and Merit I.21; Contra Jul. V, 44; etc.
[2] Wall, Wiliam, The History of Infant-Baptism, Together with Mr. Gale’s Reflections and Dr. Wall’s Defence. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Vol. 1, 1912), p. 415.
[3] CCC §392 — Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign.”
Limbus Infantium, the “Children’s Limbo”
Victor R. Claveau, MJ
The Limbo of the Infants means that those who die with only original sin on their souls cannot reach the beatific vision. This has been plainly stated in the Second Council of Lyon (AD 1274) in the Profession of Faith, and the Council of Florence (AD 1439) in the Decree for the Greeks. However, since there is a natural repugnance to the belief that those who have committed no sin should be tortured in hell, theologians have adopted various theories to account for souls in this state.
Saint Bernard thought that such infants might be saved by the faith of their parents, that God might be pleased to supply baptism in this way. Some thought that the lack of baptism might be supplied by the wish for the sacrament on the part of the parents.
Saint Augustine and the African Fathers believed that unbaptized infants share in the misery of the damned, and the very most that he concedes is that their punishment is the mildest of all, so mild indeed that one may not say that for them non-existence would be preferable to existence in such a state.[1]
Saint Augustine describes his understanding of the punishment an unbaptized soul will undergo in his Letter to Saint Jerome (28):
“But when I come to the pains suffered by infants, I am, I assure you, brought to great straits, and cannot find anything at all to answer: I mean not only those pains which after this life do attend that condemnation to which they must go, if they die without the sacrament of the Christian grace, but those which in this life we see with our eyes, and it grieves us to see; which if I should go to count, I should sooner want time than instances. They languish with sickness, they are tortured with pains, they are afflicted with hunger and thirst, maimed in their limbs, deprived of their senses, tormented with unclean spirits.”[2]
The majority of theologians, including Saint Thomas Aquinas thought that infants dying in original sin suffer no “pain of sense,” but are simply excluded from heaven. Saint Gregory Nazianzen agreed with this. As Saint Thomas puts it, such infants do not suffer because the pain of punishment comes only from personal guilt, of which there is none. They do not grieve because they do not see God. In addition, that they rejoice because they share in God’s goodness and in many natural perfections. They know and love God by use of their natural powers.
According to God’s universal salvific will, we believe that somehow, He gives each and every person the opportunity of reaching heaven. The “baptism of desire,” defined by the Council of Trent, assumes sufficient mental maturity to make an act of faith and love of God.
The Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, II, 16, states:
“There are people who are in ignorance of Christ’s Gospel and of his Church through no fault of their own, and who search for God in sincerity of heart; they attempt to put into practice the recognition of his will that they have reached through the dictate of conscience. They do so under the influence of divine grace; they can attain everlasting salvation.” By implication, their children who die before the age of reason can also be saved.Who is to say that at the moment of death God does not provide the soul of a child without personal sin the opportunity of salvation? As God gave the angels the opportunity to choose,[3] as well as our first parents, Adam and Eve, it stands to reason that He would do the same for infants. We must simply trust in the infinite mercy of God.
The International Theological Commission
The theme, The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized, was placed under the study of the International Theological Commission. The general discussion on the theme took place during the plenary sessions held in Rome, in October 2005 and October 2006. This text was approved in forma specifica by the members of the Commission, and was subsequently submitted to its President, Cardinal William Levada who, upon receiving the approval of the Holy father in an audience granted on January 19, 2007, approved the text for publication. What follows is the Introduction to this document:
1. St Peter encourages Christians to be always ready to give an account of the hope that is in them (cf. 1 Pet 3:15-16). This document deals with the hope that Christians can have for the salvation of unbaptized infants who die. It indicates how such a hope has developed in recent decades and what its grounds are, so as to enable an account of that hope to be given. Though at first sight this topic may seem to be peripheral to theological concerns, questions of great depth and complexity are involved in its proper explication, and such an explication is called for today by pressing pastoral needs.
2. In these times, the number of infants who die unbaptized is growing greatly. This is partly because of parents, influenced by cultural relativism and religious pluralism, who are non-practicing, but it is also partly a consequence of in vitro fertilization and abortion. Given these developments, the question of the destiny of such infants is raised with new urgency. In such a situation, the ways by which salvation may be achieved appear ever more complex and problematic. The Church, faithful guardian of the way of salvation, knows that salvation can be achieved only in Christ, by the Holy Spirit. Yet, as mother and teacher, she cannot fail to reflect on the destiny of all human beings, created in the image of God, and especially of the weakest. Being endowed with reason, conscience and freedom, adults are responsible for their own destiny in so far as they accept or reject God’s grace. Infants, however, who do not yet have the use of reason, conscience and freedom, cannot decide for themselves. Parents experience great grief and feelings of guilt when they do not have the moral assurance of the salvation of their children, and people find it increasingly difficult to accept that God is just and merciful if he excludes infants, who have no personal sins, from eternal happiness, whether they are Christian or non-Christian. From a theological point of view, the development of a theology of hope and an ecclesiology of communion, together with a recognition of the greatness of divine mercy, challenge an unduly restrictive view of salvation. In fact, the universal salvific will of God and the correspondingly universal mediation of Christ mean that all theological notions that ultimately call into question the very omnipotence of God, and his mercy in particular, are inadequate.
3. The idea of Limbo, which the Church has used for many centuries to designate the destiny of infants who die without Baptism, has no clear foundation in revelation, even though it has long been used in traditional theological teaching. Moreover, the notion that infants who die without Baptism are deprived of the beatific vision, which has for so long been regarded as the common doctrine of the Church, gives rise to numerous pastoral problems, so much so that many pastors of souls have asked for a deeper reflection on the ways of salvation. The necessary reconsideration of the theological issues cannot ignore the tragic consequences of original sin. Original sin implies a state of separation from Christ, and that excludes the possibility of the vision of God for those who die in that state.
4. Reflecting on the question of the destiny of infants who die without Baptism, the ecclesial community must keep in mind the fact that God is more properly the subject than the object of theology. The first task of theology is therefore to listen to the Word of God. Theology listens to the Word of God expressed in the Scriptures in order to communicate it lovingly to all people. However, with regard to the salvation of those who die without Baptism, the Word of God says little or nothing. It is therefore necessary to interpret the reticence of Scripture on this issue in the light of texts concerning the universal plan of salvation and the ways of salvation. In short, the problem both for theology and for pastoral care is how to safeguard and reconcile two sets of biblical affirmations: those concerning God’s universal salvific will (cf. 1 Tim 2:4) and those regarding the necessity of Baptism as the way of being freed from sin and conformed to Christ (cf. Mk 16:16; Mt 28:18-19).
5. Secondly, taking account of the principle lex orandi lex credendi, the Christian community notes that there is no mention of Limbo in the liturgy. In fact, the liturgy contains a feast of the Holy Innocents, who are venerated as martyrs, even though they were not baptized, because they were killed “on account of Christ”. There has even been an important liturgical development through the introduction of funerals for infants who died without Baptism. We do not pray for those who are damned. The Roman Missal of 1970 introduced a Funeral Mass for unbaptized infants whose parents intended to present them for Baptism. The Church entrusts to God’s mercy those infants who die unbaptized. In its 1980 Instruction on Children’s Baptism, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirmed that: “with regard to children who die without having received Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as indeed she does in the funeral rite established for them”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) adds that: “the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved [1Tim 2:4], and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: ‘Let the children come to me, do not hinder them’ (Mk 10:14), allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism”.
6. Thirdly, the Church cannot fail to encourage the hope of salvation for infants who die without Baptism by the very fact that she “prays that no one should be lost”, and prays in hope for “all to be saved”. On the basis of an anthropology of solidarity, strengthened by an ecclesial understanding of corporate personality, the Church knows the help that can be given by the faith of believers. The Gospel of Mark actually describes an occasion when the faith of some was effective for the salvation of another (cf. Mk 2:5). So, while knowing that the normal way to achieve salvation in Christ is by Baptism in re, the Church hopes that there may be other ways to achieve the same end. Because, by his Incarnation, the Son of God “in a certain way united himself” with every human being, and because Christ died for all and all are in fact “called to one and the same destiny, which is divine”, the Church believes that “the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery” (GS 22).
7. Finally, when reflecting theologically on the salvation of infants who die without Baptism, the Church respects the hierarchy of truths and therefore begins by clearly reaffirming the primacy of Christ and his grace, which has priority over Adam and sin. Jesus Christ, in his existence for us and in the redemptive power of his sacrifice, died and rose again for all. By his whole life and teaching, he revealed the fatherhood of God and his universal love. While the necessity of Baptism is de fide, the tradition and the documents of the magisterium which have reaffirmed this necessity need to be interpreted. While it is true that the universal salvific will of God is not opposed to the necessity of Baptism, it is also true that infants, for their part, do not place any personal obstacle in the way of redemptive grace. On the other hand, Baptism is administered to infants, who are free from personal sins, not only in order to free them from original sin, but also to insert them into the communion of salvation which is the Church, by means of communion in the death and resurrection of Christ (cf. Rom 6:1-7). Grace is totally free, because it is always a pure gift of God. Damnation, however, is deserved, because it is the consequence of free human choice. The infant who dies with Baptism is saved by the grace of Christ and through the intercession of the Church, even without his or her cooperation. It can be asked whether the infant who dies without Baptism, but for whom the Church in its prayer expresses the desire for salvation, can be deprived of the vision of God even without his or her cooperation.”
The conclusion of this study is that there are theological and liturgical reasons to hope that infants who die without baptism may be saved and brought into eternal happiness, even if there is not an explicit teaching on this question found in Revelation. However, none of the considerations proposed in this text to motivate a new approach to the question may be used to negate the necessity of baptism, nor to delay the conferral of the sacrament. Rather, there are reasons to hope that God will save these infants precisely because it was not possible to do for them that what would have been most desirable— to baptize them in the faith of the Church and incorporate them visibly into the Body of Christ.
[1] Of Sin and Merit I.21; Contra Jul. V, 44; etc.
[2] Wall, Wiliam, The History of Infant-Baptism, Together with Mr. Gale’s Reflections and Dr. Wall’s Defence. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Vol. 1, 1912), p. 415.
[3] CCC §392 — Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign.”
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