The unofficial term Limbo (, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition, in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned.
Some medieval theologians of Western Europe described the underworld ("hell", "hades", "infernum") as divided into three distinct parts: Hell of the Damned,Catholic Encyclopedia: Hell : "However, in the New Testament the term Gehenna is used more frequently in preference to hades, as a name for the place of punishment of the damned.[...] held in abomination by the Jews, who, accordingly, used the name of this valley to designate the abode of the damned (Targ. Jon., Gen., iii, 24; Henoch, c. xxvi). And Christ adopted this usage of the term." Jewish Encyclopedia: Gehenna: Sin and Merit : "It is frequently said that certain sins will lead man into Gehenna. The name "Gehenna" itself is explained to mean that unchastity will lead to Gehenna (; 'Er. 19a); so also will adultery, idolatry, pride, mockery, hypocrisy, anger, etc. (Soṭah 4b, 41b; Ta'an. 5a; B. B. 10b, 78b; 'Ab. Zarah 18b; Ned. 22a)." Limbo of the Fathers or Patriarchs, and Limbo of the Infants.
The Limbo of the Fathers is the state or place for people who were friends of God but died before the death of Jesus Christ; when Jesus died he descended into hell and rescued the souls of those who had died before him: this is traditionally known as the Harrowing of Hell.
The Limbo of the Infants was the hope that just because a child died before baptism, it does not mean they deserve punishment (or are developed enough to be cognizant of separation from God), though they cannot have full salvation (or experience the Beatific Vision.) The Limbo of the Infants is neither affirmed nor denied by Catholic doctrine.
Limbo of the Patriarchs
The "Limbo of the Patriarchs" or "Limbo of the Fathers" (Latin ) is seen as the temporary state of those who, despite the sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God but could not enter heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible. The term Limbo of the Fathers was a medieval name for the part of the underworld (Hades) where the patriarchs of the Old Testament were believed to be kept until Christ's soul descended into it by his death through crucifixion and freed them.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Christ's descent into Hell as meaning primarily that "the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into Hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead." It adds: "But he descended there as Saviour, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there." It does not use the word Limbo.
This concept of Limbo affirms that admittance to heaven is possible only through the intervention of Jesus Christ, but does not portray Moses, etc. as being punished eternally in Hell. The concept of Limbo of the Patriarchs is not spelled out in Scripture, but is seen by some as implicit in various references:
Luke 16:22 speaks of the "bosom of Abraham", which both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, following early Christian writers, understand as a temporary state of souls awaiting entrance into heaven. The end of that state is set either at the Resurrection of the Dead, the most common interpretation in the East, or at the Harrowing of Hell, the most common interpretation in the West, but adopted also by some in the East.See Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: Christ the Conqueror of Hell Jesus told the Good Thief that the two of them would be together "this day" in Paradise (Luke 23:43; see also Matthew 27:38); but on the Sunday of his resurrection he said that he had "not yet ascended to the Father" (John 20:17). At least one Medieval devotional source and a course of Catholic religious instruction dating to or before the early 1900s posit the view that the descent of Jesus Christ to the abode of the dead, his presence among them, turned it into a paradise. It is also possible that the intended text was not "I say to you, This day you will be with me in paradise", but "I say to you this day, You will be with me in paradise". Timothy Radcliffe explained the "today" as a reference to the "Today of eternity". Jesus is also described as preaching to "the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:19). Medieval drama sometimes portrayed Christ leading a dramatic assault – the Harrowing of Hell – during the three days between the Crucifixion and the resurrection. In this assault, Jesus freed the souls of the just and escorted them triumphantly into heaven. This imagery is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church's Holy Saturday liturgy (between Good Friday and Pascha) and in Eastern Orthodox icons of the Resurrection of Jesus. The doctrine expressed by the term Limbo of the Fathers was taught, for instance, by Clement of Alexandria (), who maintained: "It is not right that these should be condemned without trial, and that those alone who lived after the coming [of Christ] should have the advantage of the divine righteousness."
According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, unlike Purgatory and Hell, in the Limbo of Patriarchs there was not the penalty of sense (the affliction by fire in which the soul burns after death and also the body after the resurrection of the flesh), but solely the penalty of harm, which is the privation of the beatific vision of God.Commentus in Libros Quattuor Sententiarum, d. 22, q. 2, a. 1 However, the souls in Limbo of Patriarchs enjoyed the natural knowledge of God and experienced great joy because of the future glory that awaited them in Paradise.Summa Theologiae III, 52,5,ad1.
Limbo of Infants
The Limbo of Infants (Latin or ) is the hypothetical permanent status of the unbaptized who die in infancy, too young to have committed actual sins, but not having been freed from original sin. Recent Catholic theological speculation tends to stress the hope, although not the certainty, that these infants may attain heaven instead of the state of Limbo. Many Catholic priests and prelates say that the souls of unbaptized children must simply be "entrusted to the mercy of God", and whatever their status is cannot be known.
While the Catholic Church has a defined doctrine on original sin, it has none on the eternal fate of unbaptised infants, leaving theologians free to propose different theories, which magisterium is free to accept or reject. Nonetheless, according to Catholic dogma, baptism, or at least the desire for it, along with supernatural faith or at least the "habit of faith", are necessary for salvation. Hence, it is not immediately clear how to reconcile the mercy of God for unbaptized infants with the necessity of baptism and Catholic faith for salvation. Several theories have been proposed. Limbo is one such theory,Study by International Theological Commission , 22 April 2007, 32–40 although the word limbo itself is never mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, the theory of limbo has weighty support in the traditional teaching of the Doctors of the Church, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Augustine, and Saint Alphonsus Liguori.
Latin Fathers In countering Pelagius, who denied original sin, Saint Augustine of Hippo was led to state that because of original sin, "such infants as quit the body without being baptized will be involved in the mildest condemnation of all. That person, therefore, greatly deceives both himself and others, who teaches that they will not be involved in condemnation; whereas the apostle says: 'Judgment from one offence to condemnation' (Romans 5:16), and again a little after: 'By the offence of one upon all persons to condemnation'."On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins, and the Baptism of Infants ; cf. Study by the International Theological Commission , 22 April 2007], 15–18]
In 418, the Council of Carthage, a synod of North African bishops which included Augustine of Hippo, did not explicitly endorse all aspects of Augustine's stern view about the destiny of infants who die without baptism, but stated in some manuscriptsStudy by the International Theological Commission , 22 April 2007, footnote 41] "that there is no intermediate or other happy dwelling place for children who have left this life without Baptism, without which they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, that is, eternal life".Study by the International Theological Commission , 22 April 2007, 19] So great was Augustine's influence in the West, however, that the Latin Fathers of the 5th and 6th centuries (e.g., Jerome, Avitus of Vienne, and Gregory the GreatThe subject of children who die prematurely is also dealt with by Gregory of Nyssa in his work entitled Ad Hierium Cappadociae prefectum de infantibus qui praematurae abripiuntur ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250219093515/http://www.lectio-divina.org/images/nyssa/Concerning%20Infants%20who%20have%20Died%20Prematurely.pdf%C3%97To the Prefect Hierus of Cappadocia Concerning Infants Who Have Died Prematurely).) did adopt his position.Study by the International Theological Commission, 22 April 2007 , 20
Medieval theologians In the later Medieval period, some theologians continued to hold Augustine's view. In the 12th century, Peter Abelard (1079–1142) said that these infants suffered no material torment or positive punishment, just the pain of loss at being denied the beatific vision. Others held that unbaptised infants suffered no pain at all: unaware of being deprived of the beatific vision, they enjoyed a state of natural, not supernatural happiness. This theory was associated with but independent of the term "Limbo of Infants", which was coined about the year 1300.Study by the International Theological Commission , 22 April 2007, 21–25]
If heaven is a state of supernatural happiness and union with God, and Hell is understood as a state of torture and separation from God then, in this view, the Limbo of Infants, although technically part of hell (the outermost part, limbo meaning 'outer edge' or 'hem') is seen as a sort of intermediate state.
The question of Limbo is not treated in the parts of the by Thomas Aquinas, but is dealt with in an appendix to the supplement added after his death compiled from his earlier writings.Summa Theologiae, Supplement to the Third Part, EDITOR'S NOTE The Limbo of Infants is there described as an eternal state of natural joy, untempered by any sense of loss at how much greater their joy might have been had they been baptised:
The natural happiness possessed in this place would consist in the perception of God mediated through creatures.Feingold, Lawrence. The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas and His Interpreters. 2nd edition. Ave Maria: Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University. 2010. As stated in the International Theological Commission's document on the question:
The afterdeath life cartography that runs through Christian thought from Bernard of Clairvaux to Aquinas is thus composed of five real and physical places: Paradise, Limbo of Patriarchs, Limbo of the Infants, Purgatory and Hell.
Modern era