and the pope says, "Guys, we gotta stop making this shit up," and is mysteriously silent on other aspects of his religion that also aren't documented
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Like the article says, Limbo has never been doctrine, merely speculation. There are plenty of Doctines that Cannot Change, such as the divinity of Christ, but Limbo isn't one of them.
In other words: Doctrine: True Faith and Love are required for salvation, and normatively baptism too. Doctrine: God is both perfectly just and perfectly merciful. Doctrine: God is all-knowing and all-powerful, providentially working for the best of each soul. When it's all said and done, no one will be able to say he got shafted by the Almighty.
Understanding all these doctrines in relation to each other is where speculation starts to come in. One of the usual difficulties is how perfect justice and mercy interact in a specific situaation. Since we don't tend to be very good at either, the perfect joining of both is "kinda difficult" ;)
Why not say everyone goes to heaven? * We already know some people won't. * If everyone went to heaven, we would be ignoring justice.
Ignoring mercy would mean everyone goes to hell; quite contrary to Christianity.
Ultimately, all questions of "Would someone like this go to heaven?" are a matter between that soul and God; We don't know everything about that soul, nor ar we particularly good at weighing perfect justice and mercy together.
So, that's what we know; the following is what we think:
Suppose someone gets in a fatal car accident on the way to his baptism. It doesn't make sense for him to go to hell just because of that, so we have an idea called "Baptism of desire".
What if someone really has love, but never encounters a Christian? It's up to that soul and God; we leave the question open. Even if it's possible, the Gospel is much more than "Congratulations, some of you might make it". The Gospel says that salvation is possible, and here's how to claim it.
What about babies who die before they have a chance to understand any of this? Like the isolated tribesman above, we don't want to say babies are automatically damned. Similarly, we don't want to say they automatically go to heaven, because that would make King Herod one of the great child-evangelists. (What we do know is that infant baptism is beneficial, but for the above reasons, the Church hesistates to speak to specific cases.) Here, we get back to Limbo: one of the longer-lasting and recent guesses about how to deal with the dead-babies question, which is not directly answered by divine revelation. But Limbo also has its problems, and was never more than a favorite guess.
This is a little rambley, so I'll close with what the Catechism says, and a couple relevant links.
As regards children who have died without baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God, who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children, which caused him to say, 'Let the children come to me, do not hinder them' [Mark 10:14, cf. 1 Tim. 2:4], allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy baptism. (CCC #1261)
In other words:
Doctrine: True Faith and Love are required for salvation, and normatively baptism too.
Doctrine: God is both perfectly just and perfectly merciful.
Doctrine: God is all-knowing and all-powerful, providentially working for the best of each soul. When it's all said and done, no one will be able to say he got shafted by the Almighty.
Understanding all these doctrines in relation to each other is where speculation starts to come in. One of the usual difficulties is how perfect justice and mercy interact in a specific situaation. Since we don't tend to be very good at either, the perfect joining of both is "kinda difficult" ;)
Why not say everyone goes to heaven?
* We already know some people won't.
* If everyone went to heaven, we would be ignoring justice.
Ignoring mercy would mean everyone goes to hell; quite contrary to Christianity.
Ultimately, all questions of "Would someone like this go to heaven?" are a matter between that soul and God; We don't know everything about that soul, nor ar we particularly good at weighing perfect justice and mercy together.
So, that's what we know; the following is what we think:
Suppose someone gets in a fatal car accident on the way to his baptism. It doesn't make sense for him to go to hell just because of that, so we have an idea called "Baptism of desire".
What if someone really has love, but never encounters a Christian?
It's up to that soul and God; we leave the question open. Even if it's possible, the Gospel is much more than "Congratulations, some of you might make it". The Gospel says that salvation is possible, and here's how to claim it.
What about babies who die before they have a chance to understand any of this?
Like the isolated tribesman above, we don't want to say babies are automatically damned. Similarly, we don't want to say they automatically go to heaven, because that would make King Herod one of the great child-evangelists. (What we do know is that infant baptism is beneficial, but for the above reasons, the Church hesistates to speak to specific cases.)
Here, we get back to Limbo: one of the longer-lasting and recent guesses about how to deal with the dead-babies question, which is not directly answered by divine revelation. But Limbo also has its problems, and was never more than a favorite guess.
This is a little rambley, so I'll close with what the Catechism says, and a couple relevant links.
As regards children who have died without baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God, who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children, which caused him to say, 'Let the children come to me, do not hinder them' [Mark 10:14, cf. 1 Tim. 2:4], allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy baptism. (CCC #1261)
A much more concise article on Limbo, from Catholic Answers
Wikipedia article on Purgatory
The 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia article on Limbo explains the history of the idea.
Let me know if I'm unclear somewhere, or if you want me to cite my sources for something.
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