Pope Says No to Limbo

Limbo to be put out of its misery
Ruth Gledhill and Richard Owen
October
05, 2006

The Pope will cast aside centuries of Catholic belief this week by abolishing the concept of limbo, in a gesture to help win the souls of millions of babies in the developing world for Christ.

The evidence suggests Benedict XVI never believed in limbo anyway. But in the evangelisation zones of Africa and Asia, the Pope - an authority on all things Islamic - is aware Muslims believe the souls of stillborn babies go straight to heaven.

Looking to spread the faith in countries with high infant mortality, now is a good time to make it clear the stillborn babies of Christian mothers go to heaven, too.

Although it has never been part of the church's doctrine, the existence of limbo was taught to Catholics around the world.

But limbo failed to impress the Pope, who was recorded as saying before his
election:

"Personally, I would let it drop, since it has always been only a theological hypothesis."

This week, a 30-strong Vatican international commission of theologians, which has been examining limbo, began its final deliberations. The theologians' finding is that God wishes all souls to be saved, and that the souls of unbaptised children are entrusted to a merciful God.

"In effect, this means all children who die go to heaven," one source said

Extracted from The Times

While it's a bit tacky that they've done this as an attempt to shore up the numbers in countries where Islam has a decent foothold, what I really want to know is this: What is the cut off age between childhood and adulhood? Is it 12 like at the movies? 17 like at the Department of Transport? 18 like the pub or the polling booth?

Old enough to vote, too old for paradise. How ironic that would be.

Come on Benny, tell me, at what point does the free entry pass for heaven expire? Does it make allowances for people who have intellectual disabilities like Downs Syndrome who may be adults in a physical sense but children in an intellectual one? Admit it, you're just making this shit up as you go along aren't you?

While we're on it, does it bother anyone else that 30 churchmen were conscripted to discuss what is basically a moot point? Couldn't they have been doing something useful like, oh I don't know, say, helping the needy?