“Original sin is not something positive. It is essentially the absence of divine grace. Now by the natural process of generation, parents can transmit human nature as they received it from their own parents. But they cannot, by this merely natural process, transmit supernatural grace which they received, not from their parents, but immediately and individually from God.”
[click to continue...]I Stand Corrected on the Definition of Limbo
I admit it. I stand corrected on the definition of limbo.
This is me saying mea culpa.
I am eating a slice of humble pie.
I overstepped and misunderstood.
As so many tried to set me straight, I finally realized the error I made.
In my ignorance I got sloppy and failed to be precise in my language.
[click to continue...]Does a Deceased, Unborn Child Get Credited with the Grace of Baptism of Desire?
You may have heard it posited before. Perhaps a deceased, unborn child can be credited with the grace of baptism of desire, because the child’s parents desired to baptize their child upon birth.
This idea is often bandied as a comfort to those of us parents who have lost children to miscarriage, especially.
It is a pious thought to desire baptism for every soul. Surely we want every child to go to Heaven. But does it hold up theologically?
[click to continue...]How Do You Answer a Pregnant Mother Seeking Abortion Who Says At Least She’s Sending Her Unborn Baby to Heaven?
What Happened to Limbo?: Answering Common Objections to the Doctrine
However, He has given us no revelation that this is, in fact, what He does for babies who die without being baptized. In fact, the Holy Spirit has led the Catholic Church to just the opposite/ revelation. In the Second Council of Lyons and the Council of Florence, the Holy Spirit led the Church to assert dogmatically that such souls do go to limbo.
[click to continue...]Popes and Saints Answering What Happens to Unbaptized Babies When They Die
Pope John XXIII:
“The Roman Church teaches… that souls of those who depart in mortal sin or with only original sin descend immediately to hell, nevertheless to be punished with different punishments and in disparate locations” (Nequaquam sine dolore [Letter to the Armenians], November 21, 1321) (Denzinger 493a).
Where Do the Souls of Aborted Babies Go? The Answer Will Likely Surprise You
Yet, any aborted baby will not be baptized. Therefore, he or she does not receive forgiveness for original sin. Therefore, he or she is not worthy to go to Heaven, sadly.
That said, still any aborted baby—or really any unbaptized child before the age of reason—has not willfully sinned against God. Thus, this child does not deserve to roast in the flames of Gehenna.
So what is the answer? Where do the souls of aborted babies go?
[click to continue...]