Reply #2: Vatican puts limbo in a state of, er ... limbo

[emad]

By DOUG SAUNDERS


In Latin, it means "the lip," and for centuries devout Roman Catholics have tried to avoid thinking about its full meaning: the edge of hell, where those who have died without baptism -- notably babies -- are sent for eternity.

Now it seems that limbo, a place invented in the Middle Ages that soon became a well-known part of the architecture of the cosmos, is about to be struck from the theological blueprints as part of the Vatican's lengthy renovation of its heavenly layout.

Its place, alongside such well-known medieval additions as the gates of heaven, the nine circles of hell, purgatory and the heavenly vestibule, has become increasingly shaky, and yesterday, the Italian media reported that an international commission of high-ranking theologians intends to advise Pope Benedict to banish the notion of limbo from all teachings of the Catholic catechism.

Last October, seven months before he died, Pope John Paul asked the commission to come up with "a more coherent and enlightened way" of describing the fate of such innocent babes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051130.wxlimbo30/BNStory/International/