Why Catholics believe babies go to hell? Is it just to extort indulgences from grieving parents?

Question

Hmmm???

Papists, I got your number!

Answer 1

Vatican II made a change that says babies no longer go to Limbo, but to heaven. Funny how "the word of the lord" can change when enough people get upset about it! ;-)

Answer 2

Catholics have never believed that God would send unbaptized babies to hell.

But 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.

The Church has pondered the suggestion of Limbo for a few hundred years and has decided that it is not a good idea. Limbo 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.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Chruch section 1261: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2.htm#1261

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

You are an IDIOT.

Catholics do NOT believe babies go to hell! ***** slap whoever told you that lie!!


Catholics- like all Christians- believe baptism is necessary. We believe it removes the stain of original sin, leaving the baptised- including babies- souls spotless.

The unbaptised have ALWAYS been left to God's mercy. We believe a merciful God would treat the innocent as innocent.

If you are referring to Limbo- that was NEVER a teaching of the Church! NEVER! It was something that was a POSSIBILITY someone came up with. It was no 'hell' it was a place of happiness that was not quite perfect because it wasn't Heaven, but it was an IDEA, not an official teaching.

Answer 4

Sorry....

The idea of limbo has NEVER been an official teaching of the Church. It was an idea which was presented as a thoughtful consideration of the problem of the unbaptized. The teaching has ALWAYS been that we depend on the mercy of God in those situations, and here is ONE POSSIBLE way that it MIGHT happen.

The Pope couldn't "abolish" Limbo. The teaching of the Church on this issue has not changed. Recent "news" about the idea was meant to counteract misinformation (such as this) making the rounds again.
So, please stop spinning what you think the Church teaches, and spend some time actually researching it.

Answer 5

1. Catholic belief does not teach that babies go to hell

2. Indulgences are a practice that went the way of the dinosaur centuries ago.

You haven't got a clue, much less a number.

Answer 6

I'm Catholic. I don't think babies go to Hell... The Bible says that babies have original sin, but that is hardly a reason to say babies go to Hell. Get your facts straight before accusing Catholics of being "extortionists".

Answer 7

Catholics declared babies went to limbo for years. Till all of a sudden someone realized it does not exist. How many other Catholic beliefs will fall as people read the Bible?

Answer 8

I think you're refering to the idea that if unbaptised babies die they go to limbo instead of heaven.

This is because of the concept of original sin.
But the Pope has now abolished the existance of limbo.

Answer 9

Sorry, you've got the wrong number.
Catholics do not beleive unbaptized babies go to hell.

Fortunately, I have the right number(s). They are 1257, 1258, 1260, and 1261 - the paragraph numbers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church has teaches the Truth about:

VI. THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM

1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

1258 The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of Baptism without being a sacrament.

1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.

1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery." Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.

1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them," allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.


If you were really that concerned about the grieving parents of dead children, you would not have posted such an outlandish hypothesys on the Internet. Chances are, your question may have mislead some grieving parents into needless despair, all because you felt compelled to attack Catholicism out of some ill-conceived sense of self-righteousness. Shame.

Answer 10

I've never heard any Catholics say that and I am Catholic. You are nuts.