Limbo's been in Limbo

I was a bit surprised when I read this article today about the banishment of Limbo, Catholic Church buries limbo after centuries, which reports:

The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went.

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The thumbs-down verdict on limbo had been expected for years and the document, called "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptised," was seen as most likely to be final since limbo was never formally part of Church doctrine.

Pope Benedict authorized the publication of the document.

According to the CNS report, the 41-page document says the theologians advising the Pope concluded that since God is merciful he "wants all human beings to be saved."

It says grace has priority over sin, and the exclusion of innocent babies from heaven does not seem to reflect Christ's special love for children, CNS, which is owned by the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference, quoted the document as saying.

Limbo, which comes from the Latin word meaning "border" or "edge," was considered by medieval theologians to be a state or place reserved for the unbaptised dead, including good people who lived before the coming of Christ.

The big surprise for me is that Limbo's been in Limbo this long. I thought that the decision to end Limbo was made last year. In fact, I wrote about the end of Limbo in January of 2006, see Limbo, in which I reminisced about my experience with "Limbo" and the Church's teachings. As I explained, I attribute my break with the Church to its teachings on the concept of limbo. The idea that an innocent infant who happened to die could be consigned to eternal nothingness was so abhorrent to me, that I didn't want to be part of a Church that had that as part of its core beliefs.

And so, here's an oldie, but goodie from the Daily Show, in honor of the decision of the Catholic Church to bury Limbo -- This Week in God with Rob Cordry on "limbo," from January 21, 2006.

As a final note, the article notes that, in his Divine Comedy, Dante placed virtuous pagans and great classical philosophers, including Plato and Socrates, in limbo. What will become of them?

(Video via onegoodmove)

Tags: Daily Show, Rob Cordry, Limbo, This Week in God, Religion, Video, Humor