Apologetic Tract What happens to a child who dies before baptism?
What happens to a child
who dies before baptism?
If baptism is necessary for salvation, what
happens to children who died before baptism?
For many years it was speculated that there
was a place called “Limbo” for those who died without the chance to be baptized
through no fault of their own. The Latin
word for Limbo (Limbus) means “boundary or edge.”
Limbo was considered by the early Fathers of
the Church to be the place where those who, before the coming of Christ,
believed in God and were faithful to God at the time of their death went until
the death and resurrection of Jesus.
In the Apostles Creed we profess that Jesus
“descended into Hell. On the third day He rose again and ascended into
heaven.” This descent into hell is not
the Hell of eternal damnation, but the place where those, awaiting the
justification of God, went after death.
Later, as people reflected on the necessity of
baptism for salvation, they speculated about the fate of infants who died
before being baptized. If Hell was the
place where those, who died in the state of alienation from God by choice, live
out their existence, then what happens to infants who never chose to be
alienated from God? Some people
speculated that they went to Limbo. Here
they would experience natural happiness but not the perfect happiness of seeing God face to
face.
Even though this may be a reasonable
explanation of a mystery, this has never been the official teaching of the
Church.
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic
Church officially states:
“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)
Before Pope John II died, he asked the
International Theological Commission to study the question concerning the fate
of unbaptized infants. On April 22,
2007, this advisory Commission issued a statement entitled "The Hope of
Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptized."
They stated: “Our conclusion is that the many
factors that we have considered above give serious theological and liturgical grounds
for hope that un-baptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific
vision. We emphasize that these are
reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge. There is much that simply has not been
revealed to us. We live by faith and
hope in the God of mercy and love who has been revealed to us in Christ, and
the Spirit moves us to pray in constant thankfulness and joy.
“What has been revealed to us is that the
ordinary way of salvation is by the sacrament of baptism. None of the above
considerations should be taken as qualifying the necessity of baptism or
justifying delay in administering the sacrament. Rather, as we want to reaffirm in conclusion,
they provide strong grounds for hope that God will save infants when we have
not been able to do for them what we would have wished to do, namely, to
baptize them into the faith and life of the Church.”
I would like to give my personal reflections
and summation of the question.
First, we believe that God wills all to be saved
and that Jesus has saved all. (This is the teaching of the Church.)
Second, because of this we believe that God
gives each person the opportunity to be saved. (This is the teaching of the
Church.)
Third, because the infant is created good and
knows only good, never committing personal sin, God presents himself to the
infant before death as The Good. The infant chooses the Good, by God’s grace,
and therefore is with God forever. (This is our hope.)
Fourth, even though the third statement is a
matter of speculation, it is based on the revealed plan of God as we know it
from the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church.
Fifth, to insure that each child has a
definite chance of eternal salvation, it is the practice of the Church to
baptize infants as soon as possible after birth. Because salvation is so important to each
individual and is the desire of God for each, we should not depend upon
speculation but upon the assurance of our faith.
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