i'm not entirely sure what the Catholic Church says about the afterlife?

i'm also wondering about the Church's teachings on euthanasia, and what those values are based on?

if anyone can help me out, it would be much appreciated.

thanks.

- Natasha

-- Natasha (princess_tasha34@hotmail.com), July 17, 2003

Answers

Limbo is no longer a teaching of the Church. This was a misrepresented "teaching" in years past. Limbo was a theological speculation. It was a term used for a place where, by God's grace, souls went that had not had the opportunity to be baptized. (such as babies).

The current teaching is that God's grace will take care of these souls in whatever manner God deems appropriate.

Purgatory should be thought of as not a place but rather a condition in which a soul passes between the earthly existance and heaven. Since, after death we are no longer confined to space and time, calling it a place is misleading.

Heaven is a condition in which we are in total presence of God and his love, Hell, a condition of everlasting torment, in which God's love is totally absent.

I can not imagine being in a state of being without God's love. I, also have problems imagining how wonderful it would be to be in total communion with God.

Here is lyrics to a recent song that states it well:

I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe from their 2001 album, Almost There

"I can only imagine What it will be like When I walk By Your side I can only imagine What my eyes will see When Your face Is before me I can only imagine

{Chorus}: Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all I can only imagine

I can only imagine When that day comes And I find myself Standing in the Son I can only imagine When all I will do Is forever Forever worship You I can only imagine"

God Bless,

-- john placette (jplacette@catholic.org), July 17, 2003.

There are really only two eternal destinations - heaven and hell. Purgatory is simply a temporary place or state of purification where those who are saved, but not fully purified, undergo final purification before entering heaven, since the Bible says that nothing unclean can enter into God's presence. Limbo is not now and never was an official doctrine of the Church. It was simply a popular theory concerning the eternal fate of unbaptized but innocent persons. Today the Church makes no definitive statement concerning the fate of such individuals, since God has not chosen to reveal this. The Church only states that "we commend them to the mercy of God".

The Church's teaching on euthanasia is the same as its teaching on abortion, infanticide, genocide, suicide, and all other variations of murder. It is forbidden. This teaching is based upon a four-word command from God Himself ... "Thou Shalt Not Kill".

-- Paul (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 17, 2003.

The Church has never formally defined the existence of limbo, but it is part of her body of common teaching.

Catholic theology recognizes two kinds of limbo:

The limbo of the Fathers was where the saints of the Old Testament remained until Christ's crucifixion, when He led the waiting souls to heaven. The Apostles Creed speaks of this time as, "He descended into hell," or, "He descended to the dead."

There is also the limbo of infants. It is an article of the Catholic faith, defined at the ecumenical councils of Florence and Trent, that those who die without baptism, and whose need for baptism has not been supplied in some other way, cannot enter heaven. Jn 3:5 "…unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The souls in limbo experience neither the joy of the beatific vision nor the pain of punishment. They enjoy the happiness that we would have been experienced had Christ not raised us to the supernatural order through His redemptive sacrifice, which opened heaven.

St. Thomas Aquinas taught that infants in limbo experience no pain, because pain of punishment is proportionate to personal guilt, and an infant can have no personal guilt. Rather, "They rejoice because they share in God's goodness and in many natural perfections." De Malo, V, 3

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1261, says: "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."

Briefly, objectively speaking, an infant who dies without baptism will go to the limbo of infants. However, Christ always has the sovereign power to baptize any child. We do not know whether He baptizes any child, such as a child killed in his mother's womb, or, if He does, how often. But we can hope and pray.

Just something I found on the net. I do not pretend it is mine.

Karl

-- Karl (Parkerkajwen@hotmail.com), July 17, 2003.

"Catholic theology recognizes ... the limbo of infants."

Notice that it is not "Catholic teaching," but "Catholic theology" -- which really means, "some theologians" (now very few, I think) -- that offers "the limbo of infants" as a possibility. No one is required to believe in it.

"The souls in limbo experience neither the joy of the beatific vision nor the pain of punishment."

In light of the foregoing, it is necessary to preface such sentences with a disclaimer, such as ...
"If limbo exists, it is conjectured that the souls there experience ..."

"St. Thomas Aquinas taught that infants in limbo experience no pain [etc.]"

A person should say that St. Thomas Aquinas opined this. He was a priest, but not a bishop, so he had no magisterium (teaching authority). He was not able to "teach" anything other than what the Church had already taught in the past (which did not include limbo).

"Briefly, objectively speaking, an infant who dies without baptism will go to the limbo of infants."

A Catholic cannot make this kind of direct statement, because the Church has not taught this to be true.

-- CtM (it@matters.not), July 17, 2003.