And deep theological uncertainty ensued
Every Limbo boy and girl All around the Limbo world Gonna do the Limbo Rock All around the Limbo clock
– Sheldon/Strange interpreted by Chubby Checker c. 1962
Early on, in my formative years, I attended catechism classes in the basement of a small parish church just far enough away from home that I required a ride back and forth. Happily, this fitted in well with my father’s work schedule, and he served as the taxi for two neighbours and me. The one time we decided to hitch a ride home, rather than wait for our lift, will never be forgotten. (I digress. Painful memories are like that.)
Anyhow, a number of basic precepts were part of that training. Who made me? Why? What happened when I died? All the stuff that has clearcut answers for those in the age group of six to eight, and then never again. One tiny mystery remained… what happened to those babies that died without the sacremental graces of baptism? My mother clarified those murky waters. The name of the place was Limbo, just like, but not like, the dance. Chubby would be pleased.
It all fit. Boolean logic tables. Baptised baby and dead equals heaven. Unbaptised baby and dead equals a place in the “Bosom of Abraham”. No gray area there.
Now we jump forward to the present times. The Montreal Gazette gave me pause, as it sometimes does, with a story copied from the London Daily Telegraph (“we read ’em all!”). Pope Benedict XVI is about to refute the teaching of limbo.
Seems that since it never was part of official doctrine there will be no need to invoke infallibility. Whew! The confusion that has reigned since the time of Augustine, further aided and abetted by Aquinas and classified by Dante, will disappear. From now on, babies will cease to suffer from a theological hypothesis.
Cut to the chase. It is suggested in the London Times that “the move is designed to prevent people in developing countries with high infant mortality rates from turning instead to Islam, which teaches that stillborn babies go straight to Paradise”.
There you have it. A market share strategy. And you thought the pope lacked a sense of what makes the world turn.
