In limbo

In Latin, it means "the lip," and for centuries devout Roman Catholics have tried to avoid thinking about its full meaning: the edge of hell, where those who have died without baptism -- notably babies -- are sent for eternity.

Now it seems that limbo, a place invented in the Middle Ages that soon became a well-known part of the architecture of the cosmos, is about to be struck from the theological blueprints as part of the Vatican's lengthy renovation of its heavenly layout.

Its place, alongside such well-known medieval additions as the gates of heaven, the nine circles of hell, purgatory and the heavenly vestibule, has become increasingly shaky, and yesterday, the Italian media reported that an international commission of high-ranking theologians intends to advise Pope Benedict to banish the notion of limbo from all teachings of the Catholic catechism.

Last October, seven months before he died, Pope John Paul asked the commission to come up with "a more coherent and enlightened way" of describing the fate of such innocent babes.

I find this idea fascinating. I wasn't raised Catholic. In fact, my mother is vehemently anti-Catholic despite her having married two Catholics. What I find fascinating isn't so much the idea of limbo itself but the idea that it's a malleable definition.

There are more details in the article, info on limbo and what the changes to its definition are. What I want to blog about is the idea of changing tenets of the faith.

This is a great idea. If only the Catholic church and other churches could be a little more open to the idea of altering more their teachings to fit the times and the mindset.

I hear a lot of pagans, witches and Wiccans particularly, who say that they found the faith instead of it finding them. That they had beliefs and discovered a religion that conformed to their thoughts. I don't know that a lot of people "find" Catholicism in the same way; I think most people are brought up in the faith and conform their beliefs to it. Most Catholics I know don't subscribe to all the teachings of the church (issues including pre-marital sex, homosexuality, celibacy, the death penalty, euthanasia, women's rights, etc.) or actually subscribe to most of it.

I'm not saying that Catholicism or other religions should try to be all things to all people by any means. I am saying that they're showing a little flexibility and it'd be nice if they could extend it to other aspects of the faith. There is beauty in Catholicism but for me it's hard to find it through all the rigidity and medieval ideas of divinity, salvation and the place of the church in the world.