Apparently, the Pope has put together a commission, part of whose job is to look more deeply into the medieval concept of Limbo and to update the idea. One of the categories of people whom Limbo was created to cater to was babies who died before their baptism. It was less bad than hell, but not awesomely spectacular like Heaven. I’ll be curious to see what kind of contemporary spin they put on the idea.
More info on Limbo can be had here. According to this, Limbo has never been an official part of Church doctrine, although Purgatory has. Purgatory seems to be more a place where you go to have minor sins cleansed (purged) before you’re allowed into Heaven proper. Also, there seem to be two types of Limbo, the type described above, which is termed limbus infantium, and the kind which was for the “Righteous Pagans” who lead good lives, but existed before Jesus. They were unable to get to Heaven until Jesus’ Harrowing of Hell, in which he triumphantly broke in and opened the gates for these men.
The Harrowing of Hell was much more important to medieval theology, and is largely defunct now. I like it because it portrays Jesus as a powerful warrior, or a victorious general, before whom the hosts of Hell tremble, and the gates crack in half. Rock on, Jesus. Rock on.
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