The Tenth Crusade
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Souls of Aborted Babies (Fr. Nicholson)
This is a topic that has come up at TTC over the last week or so.
Fr. Nicholson explains Catholic theology on the souls of aborted babies.
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8 comments:
Not sure how I feel about this. Does it mean all the miscarried babies aren't in heaven either? All these poor souls are left for eternity separated from God because they died before they were born either by abortion or miscarriage?
I've never heard this before about babies who died before birth.
Julie,
It seems Fr is focusing on the fruit and outcome of abortion. If abortion makes angels then in mystical theology abortion would be angelic. The cause of miscarriage has different attributes and knowing God's mercy, one would hope the innocence of the Mom and baby factors into judgement.
This teaching isn't new and is the theology behind limbo. I think the confusion settled when Pope B downplayed the relevance and existence. I believe Pope B was more hopeful about non baptized unborn children receiving mercy, but Fr N is rightly saying nobody really knows and why the obstruction of baptism generates such evil.
Might be worth dropping Fr N a message to get his thoughts about miscarriage but I always recommend baptism of the remains as an act of faith by the parents. The baptism is more like a prayer of redemption as The removal of original sin after death is not very hopeful but God is outside of time and more importantly, the witness gives to those who are involved about the sanctity of life, the immortal soul of the child and our teaching on salvation. That gift to nurses, doctors is an act of faith they will never forget and one hopes that gift will add weight to our pleading for mercy.
I had a miscarriage at 4 months gestation. It was devastating. However, much as I love my baby I know God loves him more. My baby was not guilty of personal sin but he was guilty of original sin. The catechism says we just don't know what God does about children like my son. There is a reason that God did not let us know. When we think of the immensity of God's love, when we think that He so loved the world that He sent His Son to die on the cross for us, why cannot we accept His silence in this matter as being an act of His love.
I wonder what God thinks of original sin and its consequences? I wonder how his justice is satisfied. Can't see and answer here.
I was telling a Catholic friend of mine about this and showed her the video, she found this interesting article on the subject: http://catholicherald.com/stories/Straight-Answers-Do-Aborted-Children-Go-to-Heaven,6744
I shared it on Fr. Nicholson's Facebook page [ https://www.facebook.com/FrPaulNicholson ] for him to see and perhaps comment on.
Thanks for the feedback.
God bless!
Julie, you are welcome.
A few things.
I don't think Fr N is discrediting the hope there is a way for non baptized to enter Heaven. I can't speak for him but he seems to be saying it is inconsistent with Christ's own words and we are then left with mercy--which makes abortion all the more of a crime against God and the baby. I think it is indisputable theologically.
Re the article, it's a mistake to compare the Holy Innocents with aborted babies as they were killed in pursuit of killing Christ and have a case for martyrdom, which is consistent with Catholic theology. There is a comment under the article that shouldn't be missed.
I do agree with his assessment of Christ's mercy!
I neglected to express my condolences to those who expressed the loss of a baby through miscarriage. It is a devastating experience. I lost a baby at 13 weeks and I understand the loss.
We have a need to be cautious if we adopt the theory that the souls of aborted children go to Heaven. Caution is necessary here because if we adopt this idea it has the potential of disarming us in the struggle to end this foul crime, and we start saying to ourselves, "Well, I guess they're going to Heaven now so I don't know how much more I can do". That is why the real horror of abortion is that these innocents can never see God.
That doesn't mean, of course, that they suffer torment. Unbaptized souls who are totally innocent reside in a place of perfect natural happiness, that place being called Limbo. It is the same place that all the Old Testament souls who were justified, and committed no sins, resided until the day of the Crucifixion when "He descended into Hell" and freed these captives. Dogmatically we know that Baptism is absolutely necessary in order to wash away the stain of Original Sin, so the lack of Baptism means that this original sin is still on that person's soul. The same requirement holds true for any unbaptized adult: even if a Muslim, a Jew or a pagan dies in complete innocence they still cannot see God because they have not received Baptism. If they die sinless they will be received in Limbo. The command to baptize is for all men.
This is how I and almost all Catholic children were taught in our Catholic grade schools by the good nuns - until the rot started to creep in in the 1930s, slowly got worse in the 1940s and 1950s, and then exploded in the 1960s.
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