Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Guardian Unlimited | Columnists | If you feel a commotion beneath your feet today, that'll be gazillions of unbaptised children moving out of Limbo

"Since the Middle Ages, Limbo has been for Catholics a place (in Dante's vision, a castle) where the souls of unbaptised children go. Aborted foetuses, too. But a 30-strong commission of theologians established by John Paul II has concluded that a nicer destiny is necessary - namely that all children who die do so in the expectation of 'the universal salvation of God', whether baptised or not. 'In effect, this means that all children who die go to Heaven,' a papal source told the Times earlier this week.
But this can't be right. There must be some naughty children who don't go to Heaven, but wind up in Purgatory awaiting intercessory prayers, and others who go straight to Hell. What is a papal source anyway? Why weren't they prepared to go on the record?
The Pope's announcement nevertheless will end centuries of heartlessness typified by Pope Pius X (1903-14), who declared Limbo to be a place where the unbaptised 'do not have the joy of God but neither do they suffer . . . they do not deserve Paradise, but neither do they deserve Hell or Purgatory'. What a revolting invocation of deserts! Instead, the Catholic church now believes that God wishes all souls to be saved. It seems remiss, to put it mildly, that the church took seven centuries to come to this more compassionate position.
Today Limbo's children will be able to scamper with their satchels and protractors towards Heaven, where - fingers crossed - God will make Heavenly sandwiches for packed lunches. Ovid's were rubbish."

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