Monday, April 18, 2016

Aborting Limbo


 I overheard a remark not long ago, wherein the discussion, which was carried on by two members of the Vatican II sect, centered on abortion. The one person had remarked that although abortion was murder, at least the aborted babies were safely in Heaven. There was no elaboration as to how they get to Heaven, but this perverse remark is now the de facto position of the Vatican II sect. It began when Ratzinger, as "Pope" Benedict XVI, decided to push the heresy of universal salvation further along. In April of 2007, The International Theological Commission, a committee of 30 Modernist theologians who advise the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Modernist version of the Holy Office), issued a document entitled The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized. 

 This document, although called "non-authoritative," was signed by the so-called "Pope" Benedict. Ironically, it gives the theological justification needed for direct abortion and in vitro fertilization, wherein many newly fertilized human beings are simply "discarded" like trash. It is true that Limbo, the state of those who die in Original Sin only, is not a dogma of the Faith. You can deny Limbo and you would not thereby be a heretic. However, the problems with the "elimination" of Limbo are both many and serious.

What the True Church Teaches
  • Every human being (except the human nature of Our Lord, and the Most Blessed Virgin Mary) is born in the state of Original Sin, which is primarily the deprivation of Sanctifying Grace. (See theologian Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, [1954], pg. 110)
  • The only means of obtaining salvation is by entering the Catholic Church and dying in the state of Grace. (See theologian Tanquerey, Manual of Dogmatic Theology,1:138)
  • Membership in the Church is effectuated in the ordinary way by the Sacrament of Baptism, by which all stain of Original Sin and (in the case of those who have attained to the age of reason), all actual sins are remitted and Sanctifying Grace is infused in the soul. (See Ott, op. cit. pgs. 309-311)
  • By extraordinary means, a person can enter inside the Church and receive Sanctifying Grace by Baptism of Desire (BOD) or Baptism of Blood (BOB).(See Ott, Ibid, pgs.356-357)
  • Infants, the habitually insane, and the retarded, who are deprived of reason are incapable of receiving BOD. As Pope Pius XII taught, "In the present economy there is no other way of communicating this life to the child who has not yet the use of reason. But, nevertheless, the state of grace at the moment of death is absolutely necessary for salvation. Without it, it is not possible to attain supernatural happiness, the beatific vision of God. An act of love can suffice for an adult to obtain sanctifying grace and supply for the absence of Baptism; for the unborn child or for the newly born, this way is not open..." (See Address to the Congress of the Italian Catholic Association of Midwives [Oct. 29, 1951] Emphasis mine). 
  • Infants and those deprived of reason can receive BOB. (Ott, Ibid, pg. 357)
  • Sanctifying Grace becomes "lumen gloriae" ("the light of glory") upon the soul's separation from the body and entrance into Heaven, thereby allowing the soul to enter the Beatific Vision of God for all eternity. (Ott, Ibid, pg. 22)
  • Those who die without Sanctifying Grace due to mortal sin go to Hell for eternity. (Ott, Ibid,pgs. 479-481)
  • There are different punishments for those who go to Hell due to Original Sin alone. (Ott, Ibid, pg. 114)
  • Hell consists in two punishments: poena damni (pain of separation), and poena sensus (the pain of sense). (Ibid)
  • Those who die in Original Sin alone are subject to the separation from God, but not the positive infliction of pain (Hell fire) This conclusion, which is taught by nearly every theologian in the past eight hundred years, is in accordance with a pronouncement of Pope Innocent III (III Decr. 42:3): "The punishment of original sin is the deprivation of the vision of God; of actual sin, the eternal pains of hell."
  • "Limbo" means "edge"--those who are on the "edge of Hell," meaning those least worthy of punishment. 

What the Document Signed By Ratzinger Teaches
  • The implication of universal salvation is present no less than twelve times, in paragraphs #4, 6, 7, 8, 33, 43, 46, 52, 54, 57, 67, and 69.
  • To give but two examples, "It [prayer] is based on the hope that the whole creation will finally share in the glory of God (cf. Rom 8:22-27). Such a prayer is in line with St. John Chrysostom’s admonition: 'Imitate God. If he wants all to be saved, then it is reasonable that one should pray for all.'" (Para. #69). "Rising from the dead (cf. Rom 6:9) he [Christ] sent his life-giving Spirit upon his disciples and through him set up his Body which is the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation' (Lumen Gentium 48). What is striking in these quotations is the universal extent of the Church’s mediating role in ministering God’s salvation: 'the unity among all men', 'salvation of [all] men', 'universal sacrament of salvation.'" (Para. #57)
  • "Pope" Paul VI has a funeral "mass" for unbaptized babies for the first time in 1970. (Para. #5)
  • It borrows from the heretical universal salvation teachings of Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar.
  • Specifically cited in the document are the teachings of arch-heretics Fr. Karl Rahner, and Fr. Jacques Dupuis 
  • Bottom line: Infants who have not been baptized go to Heaven because they have not committed any personal sins. They are not deprived of the Beatific Vision of God because everyone is entitled (!) to salvation.

No Rupture From The Past Teaching?
  • It is an implicit denial of Original Sin
  • It undermines the necessity of Baptism. According to theologian Prummer, "Children of Catholic parents should be baptized at the earliest possible moment. Leo XIII fiercely condemned the postponing of Baptism of children" (See theologian Prummer, Handbook of Moral Theology, pg. 257)
  • Pope Sixtus V taught in a 1588 Constitution that victims of abortion, being deprived of Baptism, are "excluded from Beatific Vision," hence abortion is a most grievous offense.
  • Pope Pius VI, in a formal magisterial decree, denounced the rejection of Limbo as "false, rash, and slanderous to Catholic schools [of theological thought]." 
Practical Consequences for Today
 Let me first say that some pre-Vatican II theologians did formulate certain teachings in place of limbo; although their number was very few. The most famous was Cajetan, who taught that infants could be saved by a "vicarious baptism of desire" through the prayers and desire of the parents. This teaching was ordered to be redacted from his writings by Pope St. Pius V. Theologian Klee taught that God would illuminate the intellect of the child just before the moment of death, and give him/her an opportunity to accept or reject Him, in a manner similar to the test given to the angels. Theologian Schell taught that the child's sufering and death served as a "baptism of suffering." Neither of those theories has any support in Revelation, and were basically rebuffed definitively by Pope Pius VI and the unanimous consent of the theologians, especially after Trent.

  Abortion is a crime against humanity. It is the systematic murder of babies. To give a woman the idea that if she aborts a baby, the child will be in eternal bliss, would only push her in the direction of abortion. I've asked some acquaintances who were "born again" Christians, "If you can't lose your salvation as long as you believe in Christ, why not commit suicide and go to Heaven right away?" They could never give a satisfactory answer except to say "God doesn't want that." I would say, "Yes, but you go to Heaven anyway." That is basically what the "pro-life" Modernist Vatican is pushing on people: God doesn't want abortion or in vitro fertilization, but if you do it, the murdered children go to Heaven anyway.  To those who think that aborted babies can received BOB by a kind of "martyrdom," this is totally false. BOB necessitates that the child is killed out of hatred for the Faith or some teaching of the Faith.

 When fighting abortion it is of the utmost importance we declare that both their earthly life and eternal salvation with God in the Beatific Vision will be lost. Yes, they go to Hell (in the broad sense of the term), as they are separated from God. They are in a place or state not subject to the pain of sense or torture from demons, and probably a small degree of consolation. But they have not reached the eternal destination for which all humans were created. Abortion is not some "ticket to Heaven." Heretical ideas have the most horrible of consequences. 

19 comments:

  1. Is it wrong to pray for a baby who died as miscarriage to attain heaven?

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    1. The prayers for deceased infants who were not baptized are not effacacious, however you were not doing something morally blameworthy if you believed you were helping them. Better to pray that God spare the life of an unborn child who might become the victim of abortion, or that God will permit a baby to be baptized in utero before miscarriage (by needle inserted with water).

      ---Introibo

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  2. In my opinion, even the notion that unbaptized infants are in a state of natural happiness (to wit, the teaching of St. Thomas) has done a great deal of harm in softening the salutary fear of God. In fact, the former teaching, put forth by St. Augustine, that infants suffer the fires of hell along with the rest of the damned, would seem to at least have the salutary effect of keeping people on their toes. For if God would punish in the fires of hell those who never committed an actual sin, just imagine what He will do to those who have. This view also seems to have the support of the Scriptures and some teachings of the Magisterium, (although the notion that infants suffer no pain of fire also seems to have the support of some Magisterial teachings). As far as I can see, however, the idea of Limbo as a place of natural happiness has no support in the Scriptures, nor in the Magisterium, nor in the Fathers. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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    1. As Limbo is not a Catholic dogma, you can reject it completely and not be a heretic. It follows logically, that if the doctrine of purgatory itself may be rejected, then no specific teaching regarding it must be accepted either.

      You can assert poena sensus for infants. The only magisterial pronouncement of which I am aware is from Pope Innocent III;His letter of to the Archbishop of Arles, which soon found its way into the "Corpus Juris". Pope Innocent's teaching is to the effect that those dying with only original sin on their souls will suffer "no other pain, whether from material fire or from the worm of conscience, except the pain of being deprived forever of the vision of God" (Corp. Juris, Decret. l. III, tit. xlii, c. iii — Majores). I quoted part of his decree above in my post. In addition, it enjoys the near unanimous consent of the post-Tridentine theologians. That's why I believe in Limbo as having no pain of sense. You are free to hold the opposite.

      ---Introibo

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  3. Actually, I don't hold the opposite. I lean toward the position of no pain, except for the pain of loss. It just seems to me that the stricter Augustinian position has more going for it than the Thomistic position, which holds that the souls of infants enjoy a positive happiness, and which seems to be the most popular position today.

    Btw, I'm confused about your statement on purgatory. What point are you trying to make here?

    Thanks.

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    1. I read over my post and comments. I see no reference to Purgatory. To what are you referring?

      ---Introibo

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  4. Your response to me at 8:47 AM:

    "It follows logically, that if the doctrine of purgatory itself may be rejected, then no specific teaching regarding it must be accepted either."

    I'm thinking now that you were being hypothetical. You weren't really saying that the doctrine of purgatory can be rejected.


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    1. Thanks for catching my mistake George! It's hard to edit your own writings; I always have someone check my legal briefs, but this blog is mine and mine alone!!

      Please replace "purgatory" with "limbo." Limbo can be rejected. Purgatory is a defined dogma!
      When you replace the word everything makes sense.

      Thank you,
      ---Introibo

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  5. Very important point you make....I wonder how many Cathlics (not vatican 2 protestants but actual Catholics) have a decent understanding of the idea of "limbo". Id be willing to guess that most think its an infallible part of the Faith.

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  6. The reason I pray for the souls of the aborted babies is this: After his crucifixion, Jesus descended into limbo and sanctified the souls of the just of the Old Testament, who had never been Baptized. This enabled them to enter heaven at the time of His Ascension, or at least to Purgatory if they needed purging. So, If the Lord entered what we call the "Limbo of the Patriarchs" once, why can he not do this again to sanctify the souls of the unbaptized aborted babies?

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    1. Hi Frank,
      I have the greatest respect for you, as you always leave intelligent and thoughtful comments. You're a good man and your heart is in the right place.

      In this case, I must respectfully disagree with you. The Old Testament Saints (like Moses) were not in need of baptism, as they all died prior to Christ's death and the founding of His True Church. Such is not the case with infants since the inception of the New Testament. Baptism (or Baptism of Blood) is absolutely necessary for infants in order to remit Original Sin and enter Heaven.


      Your theory is unsupported by any Magisterial decree. It would also support the idea of aborted babies obtaining Heaven and pushing woman towards having an abortion. Why would the Church and all the theologians insist on baptism as quickly as possible for infants, if Christ would lead them all to Heaven as with the Limbo of the Patriarchs?

      A limbo free from any positive pain and some natural happiness, is the best unbaptized babies can get. All the more reason to proselytize.

      God bless Frank!

      ---Introibo

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    2. Thank you for your reply. I had been under the impression that all those prior to the coming of Christ died with the stain of original sin. Thanks to your clarification, I found this in the SUMMA, III Q. 68.
      Reply to Objection 1. At no time, not even before the coming of Christ, could men be saved unless they became members of Christ: because, as it is written (Acts 4:12), "there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." But before Christ's coming, men were incorporated in Christ by faith in His future coming: of which faith circumcision was the "seal," as the Apostle calls it (Romans 4:11): whereas before circumcision was instituted, men were incorporated in Christ by "faith alone," as Gregory says (Moral. iv), together with the offering of sacrifices, by means of which the Fathers of old made profession of their faith. Again, since Christ's coming, men are incorporated in Christ by faith; according to Ephesians 3:17: "That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts." But faith in a thing already present is manifested by a sign different from that by which it was manifested when that thing was yet in the future: just as we use other parts of the verb, to signify the present, the past, and the future. Consequently although the sacrament itself of Baptism was not always necessary for salvation, yet faith, of which Baptism is the sacrament, was always necessary.
      http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4068.htm#article1

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  7. Good column as usual. Would you elaborate on the sources to prove that hell fire is material fire, if I'm reading you right. A VII friend of mine says the hellfire is only symbol of the loss of the beatific vision and meant to drive home how terrible that is but literal fire is not meant.
    Thanks!

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    1. Your friend is wrong, because the loss of the Beatific vision is the pain of separation which is distinct from the pain of sense.

      The exact nature of the Hell fire has not been defined. According to theologian Pohle: "One thing has been made certain...that the fire of Hell cannot be identical with material fire, but must be something at the same time physical and supra-physical, a punishment invented by an avenging God, of which we know nothing except that it exists and torments the damned." (See "Dogmatic Theology" 12:60)

      ---Introibo

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  8. My difficulty has always been with ,'Time and Space'Heaven up there, Hell down there. Rather we ought to think of 'State of being'. Heaven is where God is, hell is where He is not. I believe Limbo a state of natural perpetual happiness is where God is, however because of lack of baptism they cannot enter into the Beatific vision, or supernatural happiness.

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    1. You are correct that Heaven is not "above the clouds" nor Hell under the mantle of Earth. However, given the dual Dogmas of the Resurrection of Christ and the Assumption of Mary, we know that there are two physical bodies in Heaven right now. How can a body exist outside of time and space? I'm not claiming to have the answer; it seems a mystery as to the precise nature of Heaven and Hell in that aspect.

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    2. Doesn't the Holy Bible say the Earth itself will become Heaven and Hell will be center of the Earth?
      Please,correct me if I am wrong.

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    3. It is the teaching of the Church that the Earth will be destroyed on the Last Day and the present world will also be restored on the Last Day. This is shown, e. g., 2Peter 3:13, Acts 3:21, and Apocalypse 21:1-8. This does not mean that Heaven will be on Earth or that all the just must necessarily reside here. Hell has never been taught as existing within the Earth. (See theologian Ott, "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma," pgs. 494-496)

      ---Introibo

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  9. 1: Good article. The pro-life movement is well intended but can be very weak. And those "Born-again protestants" are cover-nihilist: If there is no God, there is no meaning for life, and if everybody goes to Heaven, why would i care to live anymore? In both irreal scenarios, you can be a serial killer and nothing will happen to you.

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