Limbo. In Catholic theology, Limbo is a postulated viewpoint concerning the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned.
Medieval theologians of western Europe described the underworld as divided into four distinct parts: Hell of the Damned, Purgatory, Limbo of the Fathers or Patriarchs, and Limbo of the Infants. However, Limbo of the Infants is not an official doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The Limbo of the Patriarchs or Limbo of the Fathers is seen as the temporary state of those who, despite the sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God but could not enter Heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible. The term Limbo of the Fathers was a medieval name for the part of the underworld where the patriarchs of the Old Testament were believed to be kept until Christ's soul descended into it by his death through crucifixion and freed them.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Christ's descent into Hell as meaning primarily that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into Hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead.
It adds: But he descended there as Saviour, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned
Medieval theologians of western Europe described the underworld as divided into four distinct parts: Hell of the Damned, Purgatory, Limbo of the Fathers or Patriarchs, and Limbo of the Infants. However, Limbo of the Infants is not an official doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The Limbo of the Patriarchs or Limbo of the Fathers is seen as the temporary state of those who, despite the sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God but could not enter Heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible. The term Limbo of the Fathers was a medieval name for the part of the underworld where the patriarchs of the Old Testament were believed to be kept until Christ's soul descended into it by his death through crucifixion and freed them.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Christ's descent into Hell as meaning primarily that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into Hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead.
It adds: But he descended there as Saviour, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned
Wikipedia ...