i'm not catholic so what does 'limbo' mean?

Answer 1

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved." (Mark 16:15-16)

For centuries, people have wondered about children who died before they were baptized. The Bible does not explicitly state that they will go to heaven.

Limbo was suggested as the place where unbaptized babies went when they died. This idea was never official Church doctrine and has been rejected.

The Church now says that it is not sure what happens to unbaptized babies when they die but she entrusts them to the mercy of God.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Limbo has been a belief held by Catholcs since the very earliest times. I have no idea where the idea that it was popularized by high profile thelogians a few decades ago came from. That is patently false. Even the Jews believed in Limbo. A distinction must be made between original sin, which we all bear at conception and must be Baptized to clean away, and actual sin, which are the acts which we committ against the commandments. One may live a holy life and never sin but the stain of original sin prevents us from being in the direct presence of God (heaven) unless we are Baptized. Limbo is still a place of bliss however, as there is no actual sin that the soul is guilty of.

Contrary to popular belief, not everything the Catholic Church teaches is the result of some "official" document. There is also the Ordinary Magisterium which consists of all of the beliefs handed down through the ages and which, because of their long held belief, passage of time and doctrinal purity are considered authentic Catholic belief. Most of what Catholics believe comes from the Ordinary Magisterium.

Answer 3

First, let's make it very clear that "limbo", in spite of anything you may have heard to the contrary, was never part of Official Church Teaching or Doctrine.

It was an idea that was popularized a few decades ago by a group of high-profile Catholic theologians. They "theorized" limbo on their own, claiming the souls of unBaptized babies cannot go to heaven on account of never havign been Baptized. However, since they cannot be held morally responsible for not being Baptized, they do not deserve hell either. Therefore, they believed there must be a "limbo"; a place for souls who are denied both heaven and hell.

Because the theologians who came up with this were high-profile, limbo became "popularized" even though it was never taught by the Church.

Answer 4

The root of the word “limbo” is the edge of a hem on a garment, so the word itself is telling us that limbo is someplace which borders very close to another. A very broad definition of limbo is a zone which exists between two definite places. The Bible does not give the name “limbo” to any specific place or realm, but various people have used the word “limbo” in various ways.

One Roman Catholic tradition names a limbo for children who die before their baptisms or die outside of the Roman Catholic religion. There is no Bible support for this view. It is merely a religious opinion which has been handed down by Catholic theologians.

Answer 5

limbo = purgatory

Its a place in between, for century's the catholic organization told the world that there is a place that its not hell and its Heaven, its a waiting room. Roman catholics go there and wait for their relatives to pay for a mass or mass's to pray them out.

Its NOT Biblical, never has been, never will be. Nice that the catholics have decided that it doesn't exist. Wonder when they'll admit to all the MANY other nonsense that is NOT Bibical, but they've been teaching it.

Its a MAN MADE religion, full of error.

Answer 6

"limbo" was never an officially defined truth of the Catholic Faith, but was a only a theological guess. It was a place thought to be were unbaptised people went.

Purgatory on the other hand, IS a defined truth of the Catholic faith, it is a place , where souls that are heading to heaven are "cleansed" of their sinful impurities before entering the kingdom. Jesus forgives sin itself, but the effects of sin are cleansed in purgatory.

Answer 7

Supposedly, according to the Catholic church you can not go to heaven unless you're baptised.

So people began to question, what happens if a baby dies before being baptised? Are they sent to hell? And what happened to all the people who died before Jesus (since Jesus supposedly opened the gates to heaven).

The Catholic church's answer was limbo (or purgatory)...a waiting lounge between heaven or hell. No other details that I know of.