The Pope does the Limbo

My interest in theological discussions is one step removed. To actually care about the outcome, you need to at least give some level of credence to the premises. I'm simply intrigued that the debate goes on at all.

Take Limbo, that nifty solution to some of the hard edges of Christian theology. Nothing in the Bible suggests its existence, but the logic of original sin and redemption through Jesus brought the Catholic Church to a difficulty that it resolved by inventing a place that's not as nice as heaven but not as nasty as hell. Now, they are rethinking it.

All of this takes place within an institution that has declared the Pope's views on theology to be infallible. Change within an infallible structure entails certain contradictions, but Catholics have been adept over the centuries at reconciling them. It isn't easy to tap dance your way around the fact that the church arrested Galileo for saying that the earth wasn't flat.

So the current Pope, having inherited the position that the Pope is infallible, needs to work his way around the fact that, according to the IHT article,

It remained strong in 1905, when Pope Pius X stated plainly: "Children who die without baptism go into limbo, where they do not enjoy God, but they do not suffer either."

The current Pope thinks Limbo was just an unofficial hypothesis. Pius X seemed to think it was pretty clear, but maybe it didn't come through the Latin that well. All in all, Catholics are in a difficult position compared with Protestants, who can start a fresh church for the cost of renting a large tent and who can select from among the Biblical phrases they like to produce a marketable product. Being Number One has its disadvantages as well as its advantages.