smirk's man pope Ratty has made a decision on Limbo

[donsu]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/search/trb/sfl-alimbo06oct06,0,2217908.story

Pope to announce limbo does not exist


To Catholics of generations past, baptism wasn't something to be deferred until a convenient time, because the souls of infants who died without it were thought to be consigned to something other than heaven. Limbo.

Not quite heaven, not nearly hell, it was regarded as a place of eternal happiness that fell just short of paradise, reserved for unbaptized children and righteous souls who lived before Christ.

It was a widespread and influential teaching for centuries. But Pope Benedict XVI is expected today to reject the concept, endorsing the conclusions of a theological commission that said unbaptized children who die before reaching the age of reason go to heaven.

St. Augustine, an influential church father, theorized the existence of limbo in the fifth century, when entry to heaven was thought to be restricted to baptized Christians. Nobody wanted to believe God would send innocent souls to hell, so the saint theorized the existence of limbo.
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popes get to make up things and then other popes get to say the made up thing doesn't exist.

when are they going to say the made up heaven doesn't exist?

guess not very soon as catholics would have nervous breakdowns if it was announced that heaven didn't exist.

[mcscajun]

1. I got a good laugh out of this story yesterday morning.

I was raised in the 50s-60s and attended Catholic grammar school and high school. Limbo was part and parcel of Catholic teaching back then, and heavy emphasis was put on "emergency baptism"; schoolchildren were taught the form, ritual and importance of a baptism done in an emergency when a priest was not available. We had an obligation to baptize that infant/child to preserve them from Limbo (and allow them a Catholic funeral rite) which because of those teachings became in a sense more real to us than Hell, which although emphasized nearly as much as the "hellfire" of Protestant teachings, never seemed as tangible as Limbo.

Now, at a stroke, Ratzinger is going to cause a big "housing shortage" in Heaven when he unilaterally releases countless millions of those born before Christ and all those unbaptized children from Limbo at a word of command.

Ain't nothin' like good mythology you get to change when it suits you. For myself, I'd decided when I was 14 that Hell did not and could not exist; I abandoned religion entirely sometime later. Still, the teachings of my childhood get a nice ripple now and again when stories like this come out.

[Straight Shooter]

2. George Carlin did a great routine on limbo.

I loved the way he pronounced it ... liiiiim-bo.

Housing shortage in Heaven, LOL!

[bryant69]

3. So you think President Bush rigged the election of the current pope?

That's a pretty big thing to say

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[blitzen]

4. some info on limbo from another thread re: dante, etc

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2544617&mesg_id=2550555

[Rockstone]

5. GREAT! Now get him off the radio!

If Rush Limbo doesn't exist, then no one should have to hear him