Yeah the Wikipedia is right. That's how they taught us it in my Catholic school anyway. It takes about 400 billion prayers to get one dead baby ghost from Purgatory into Heaven. But even then, they have to suffer for a huge chunk of eternity.

Thats a very horrible thought. Poor baby...

I thought the catholic church recently abolished purgatory. They didn't say it never existed, but that it no long exists, because they now say it doesn't, so god honours what they say and gets rid of it.

Or was that limbo? One of the two. Either purgatory or limbo now no longer exist because the pope told god to get rid of it.

stof said: I thought the catholic church recently abolished purgatory. They didn't say it never existed, but that it no long exists, because they now say it doesn't, so god honours what they say and gets rid of it. Or was that limbo? One of the two. Either purgatory or limbo now no longer exist because the pope told god to get rid of it.

I thoughy none of those really existed anymore.

That there was only one afterlife and instead of being physical places they were states of being.

 

Edit:

During his weekly address to the general audience of 8,500 people at the Vatican on July 28, 1999, Pope John Paul II rejected the reality of a physical, literal hell as a place of eternal fire and torment.

Rather, the pope said hell is separation, even in this life, from the joyful communion with God. According to an official Vatican transcript of the pope's speech, Pope John Paul II noted that the Scriptural references to hell and the images portrayed by Scripture are only symbolic and figurative of "the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. " He added, "Rather than a physical place, hell is the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy." He said hell is "a condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in this life." Concerning the concept of eternal damnation, the pope said, "Damnation consists precisely in definitive separation from God, freely chosen by the human person, and confirmed with death that seals his choice for ever." The pope also added, "The thought of hell and even less the improper use of biblical images must not create anxiety or despair." Rather, he stated, it is a reminder of the freedom found in Christ.

 

FaRmLaNd said: Thats a very horrible thought. Poor baby...

Makes sense though... our suffering is partially what makes us, us.  Could you imagine how annoying someone would be if they were more or less raised in heaven.

Of course that doesn't explain why baptised babies should be so lucky.

Its not like a baby has a choice in whether they're baptised. And since a baby hasn't lived aslong as a normal human they haven't sinned as much. To be punished for things outside of ones controls is horrible.

Atleast if God exists I know I got my punishment because I chose to be a sinning heretical agnostic. Unlike said babies.

Kasz216 said: stof said: I thought the catholic church recently abolished purgatory. They didn't say it never existed, but that it no long exists, because they now say it doesn't, so god honours what they say and gets rid of it. Or was that limbo? One of the two. Either purgatory or limbo now no longer exist because the pope told god to get rid of it. I thoughy none of those really existed anymore. That there was only one afterlife and instead of being physical places they were states of being.   Edit: During his weekly address to the general audience of 8,500 people at the Vatican on July 28, 1999, Pope John Paul II rejected the reality of a physical, literal hell as a place of eternal fire and torment. Rather, the pope said hell is separation, even in this life, from the joyful communion with God. According to an official Vatican transcript of the pope's speech, Pope John Paul II noted that the Scriptural references to hell and the images portrayed by Scripture are only symbolic and figurative of "the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. " He added, "Rather than a physical place, hell is the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy." He said hell is "a condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in this life." Concerning the concept of eternal damnation, the pope said, "Damnation consists precisely in definitive separation from God, freely chosen by the human person, and confirmed with death that seals his choice for ever." The pope also added, "The thought of hell and even less the improper use of biblical images must not create anxiety or despair." Rather, he stated, it is a reminder of the freedom found in Christ.

Interesting, I'm off to research the Catholic churches position on Hell more. 

 

But I was referring to this. 

On April 22, 2007, the advisory body known as the International Theological Commission released a document, originally commissioned by Pope John Paul II, entitled "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptized."^[21]

After tracing the history of the various opinions that have been and are held on the eternal fate of unbaptized infants, including that connected with the theory of the Limbo of Infants, and after examining the theological arguments, the document stated its conclusion as follows:

Our conclusion is that the many factors that we have considered above give serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific vision. We emphasize that these are reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge. There is much that simply has not been revealed to us.^[22] We live by faith and hope in the God of mercy and love who has been revealed to us in Christ, and the Spirit moves us to pray in constant thankfulness and joy.^[23]What has been revealed to us is that the ordinary way of salvation is by the sacrament of baptism. None of the above considerations should be taken as qualifying the necessity of baptism or justifying delay in administering the sacrament. Rather, as we want to reaffirm in conclusion, they provide strong grounds for hope that God will save infants when we have not been able to do for them what we would have wished to do, namely, to baptize them into the faith and life of the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI authorized publication of this document, indicating that it is considered consonant with the Church's teaching, though it is not an official expression of that teaching.^[24] Media reports that by the document "the Pope closed Limbo"^[25] are thus without foundation. In fact, the document explicitly states that "the theory of limbo, understood as a state which includes the souls of infants who die subject to original sin and without baptism, and who, therefore, neither merit the beatific vision, nor yet are subjected to any punishment, because they are not guilty of any personal sin. This theory, elaborated by theologians beginning in the Middle Ages, never entered into the dogmatic definitions of the Magisterium, even if that same Magisterium did at times mention the theory in its ordinary teaching up until the Second Vatican Council. It remains therefore a possible theological hypothesis" (second preliminary paragraph); and in paragraph 41 it repeats that the theory of Limbo "remains a possible theological opinion". The document thus allows the hypothesis of a limbo of infants to be held as one of the existing theories about the fate of children who die without being baptised, a question on which there is "no explicit answer" from Scripture or tradition.^[24] These theories are not official teaching of the Catholic Church, but are only opinions that the Church does not condemn, permitting them to be held by its members.

lolita said: I hope this number goes up within a few years, for the United States' sake! It's rediculous that evolution isn't taught there when it's been taught for MANY years in other countries, like Canada.

I'm from Canada too, but evolution or anything relating to it was never taught in any class i ever had.  The subject was never even been brought up in any class or grade.

Griffin said: lolita said: I hope this number goes up within a few years, for the United States' sake! It's rediculous that evolution isn't taught there when it's been taught for MANY years in other countries, like Canada. I'm from Canada too, but evolution or anything relating to it was never taught in any class i ever had.  The subject was never even been brought up in any class or grade.

Well I don't know, maybe it's just Quebec then! I had evolution subject and related stuff taught from primary school and onwards. I'm 19 so that was over 10 years ago... I don't understand why it isn't taught elsewhere, this is so backwards. We should progress not regress. -_-'

I went to a catholic school - but I was still taught the theory of evolution (I think most of the science teachers either intergrated their faith into science, or didnt believe at all)