It is the place where souls go who die, without their own sin, but with the “original sin”. The Church distinguishes two classes of Limbos, following the teachings of the Bible.
1- Limbo of the Just: Where all the just who died before Jesus Christ were “waiting”. It is where Jesus descended, after his death, to take the Just who were “waiting”; it is Hades, from Ac 2:27-31, Ps 16:3, Mat 27:52-53.
2- Limbo de los Ninos: It is the lubar where the children who have died without being baptized go; it is the Sheol of Ps 16:10, which when quoted in Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31, calls it Hades.
See “Purgatory.
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
The term limbo does not appear in Scripture, but since early Christian times, due to the probable Latinization of the Greek toponym “Olympus” (mountain in northern Greece, 2,917 meters above sea level between Thessaly and Macedonia and “mythological residence of the gods”), it has been speaks of “limbo” as a destination for certain deceased or at certain times.
In the Christian tradition, the four places where the deceased went were differentiated from medieval times. Gaspar Astete’s Catechism later said: “There are four hells in the center of the earth: the hell of the damned, purgatory, the limbo of children, and the limbo of the just or bosom of Abraham.” The children’s limbo was understood as “the place where the souls of those who before the use of reason die without baptism go”. And the righteous, or “bosom of Abraham”, defined it as “the place where, until our redemption was effected, the souls of those who died in God’s grace after being entirely purged went, and the same one to which Jesus Christ descended really and truly.”
However, the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” prefers to relate the belief in the limbo of the just, “alluded to but not referred to as Abraham’s bosom” in the parable of poor Lazarus (Lk. 16.22), with the descent of Jesus to the hells. It is interesting to discern that in the Gospel text there is no mention of “Abraham’s bosom,” but it is said that the rich man, buried in hell, raised his eyes and saw Abraham “up there” and Lazarus “in his bosom” or “next to his bosom.”
However, the Christian idea expressed in the Creed that Jesus “descended into hell” associated that situation of the dead before Jesus’ death with that “certain place” where they too awaited redemption. The concept equivalent to that state or “place”, frequently alluded to in the Bible, is that of “sheol”, a Hebrew term that refers to “descent”, underground, or “hades”. The sense of “retribution” of that term also reflects the belief in a place to which those who die and receive a prize awaiting redemption “descended”. That place disappeared after Jesus and since then the righteous go to “paradise” when they die. The wicked go to hell.
In that subterranean, inferior place, the kingdom of the dead, or of “Hades” (god of hell, brother of Jupiter and son of Cronos and Gaia, according to Greek mythology), is where the limbo of the just was. It was therefore identified with a waiting place, an idea that is even included in the Gospel (Lk. 16. 19-31). The same Gospel alludes to this situation when it speaks of the death of Jesus: (Lk. 16.22 and Jn. 2.3). The place or “bosom of Abraham” is situated in the “heart of the earth”. Jesus would say: “Just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale, the Son of Man will be in the “heart of the earth” for three days (kardia tes ges: Mt. 12. 40.)
Picking up Psalm 15.10, Peter alluded in his speech or catechesis on the resurrection to the “subterranean place” (“You will not leave my soul in hell”) (Acts 2.31). And St. Paul followed the same idea of ”lower parts of the earth.” (Eph. 4.9)
Christian doctrine, therefore, always suspected the existence of a place and a time in which the deceased remained awaiting their redemption through the saving death of Jesus. And that place is called “limbo of the just”.
Evidently there is a great deal of anthropomorphism in this belief, since it is difficult to understand or accept such an existence if we eliminate all reference to “time” and “space”, once we leave the cosmological categories of human existence through death and earthy Thinking of a provisional “place” to later enter Paradise, already understood as a permanent encounter with God (Jn. 17.3), is difficult to assume philosophically.
More confused and diffuse appears the concept of “children’s limbo”, on which there is a total lack of biblical references. It is presented only as a theological invention to coherently explain the situation of the souls of children who died without baptism, that is, in original sin.
And just as the limbo of the just was understood to be transitory, until the coming of Christ, that of children, due to the irreversible character of death and immutability in the afterlife and due to the “mortal” nature of original sin, was understood as definitive and eternal. The diverse opinions of theologians have abounded: final salvation by divine mercy, existence of another test to give the option to choose salvation or damnation, salvation conditioned to that of the parents by solidarity, they are still unfounded occurrences without biblical basis.
Since this topic is very secondary in the context of the Christian message, the most prudent thing to do in the education of Christians is to avoid it as much as possible or declare it plain and loyally open to discussion, without making it the object of precise teachings. The mysterious nature of death and the afterlife can arouse some curiosity in certain ages, but it must not be increased with spiritualist remnants.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
DecEc
A
The issue of limbo, from the Latin limbus (edge), arose in the context of the fate of unbaptized children. Scripture and tradition speak of the necessity of >baptism for salvation. For adults, grace-assisted acts of love have long been considered a substitute for baptism when it came to people who did not know or could not receive it. Children do not have this possibility to perform a supernatural act of charity. Augustine thought at first that these children could enter a kind of intermediate state between bliss and damnation. But later, delving into the controversy with the Pelagians, he came to the conclusion that they must be in hell, albeit suffering the mildest of punishments along with exclusion from the sight of God.
In the Middle Ages it was generally thought that children who died unbaptized were excluded from the beatific vision. In patristic times, as in scholasticism, there was talk of the limbus patrurn, the state of the “fathers” of the Old Testament who awaited the redemption of Christ. Gradually, by analogy, theologians began to speak of the limbus puerorum, the limbo of children who were deprived of the beatific vision because they had not been baptized. They were therefore on the “edge” of hell, but not in hell, and they suffered none of the pain of hell.
At the Council of >Trent there was some discussion about the status of the unbaptized, but no pronouncement on the matter was reached. The first declaration of the magisterium about limbo calls for a careful exegesis. In the eighteenth century many Catholic theologians considered limbo as a state of pure natural happiness for those who, through no fault of their own, were deprived of the beatific vision.
The Jansenist Synod of >Pistoia (1786) declared this position to be heretical. It was this extreme position that Pius VI condemned as “false, reckless, and detrimental to Catholic (theological) schools.” The pope did not expound any explicit doctrine on limbo, but he clearly recognized that it was an admissible theological position.
In the 1940s and 1950s theologians wrote much about the fate of unbaptized children. They tried to maintain and harmonize two truths: the necessity of baptism and the universal salvific will of God. Today there is consensus that unbaptized children are saved, but there is no generally accepted theological explanation for how this salvation is effected. The doctrine of limbo is no longer taught; in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church it does not appear. It was never a dogma of the Church, but a theological opinion used on some occasions by the magisterium. “The recent conception of Vatican II about the possibility of salvation also for people who have not received baptism. Thus, all theories about limbo are superseded”.
The pastoral question continues to arise for mothers and others associated with children who die unbaptized. Theology does not have a convincing and satisfactory answer for those who feel anxious about the subject. The best pastoral approach would be a strong affirmation that God loves children much more than their own parents, so children are safe in his hands.
Christopher O´Donell – Salvador Pié-Ninot, Dictionary of Ecclesiology, San Pablo, Madrid 1987
Source: Dictionary of Ecclesiology
The word “limbo” means shore or border area. This word is applied to the eschatological state of just souls before the coming of Jesus Christ, as if waiting (on the “shore”) to be able to enter the beatific vision deserved by the Redeemer. It is also called “Abraham’s bosom” (Lk 16,22).
Analogously, this word was applied to the hypothetical situation in which the souls of those who died in original sin (therefore, without sanctifying grace) and without having committed personal sin (for not having reached the use of reason) would remain. These souls would be deprived of the beatific vision, but would participate in the goods of God in the afterlife. Our faith invites us to think that “Christ died for all” (2Cor 5,14) and that he came to “seek and save what was lost” (Lk 19,10). Redemption can reach everyone through extraordinary means unknown to us, although always in relation to the means instituted by the Lord (sacraments, prayer, communion of saints, etc.).
References Baptism, eschatology, original sin.
Bibliography GUMPEL P., Limbo, in Sacramentum Mundi (Barcelona, Herder, 1972ss) IV, 321-2324; N. LOPEZ MARTINEZ, The beyond of the children (Burgos 1955); A. SANTOS HERNANDEZ, The children of the pagan world (Santander, Sal Terrae, 1960).
(ESQUERDA BIFET, Juan, Dictionary of Evangelization, BAC, Madrid, 1998)
Source: Dictionary of Evangelization
This original term of theology indicates either the eschatological state…