Benedict XVI thanks the International Commission for its document on Limbo
On October 5, when he received the members of the International Theological Commission, the pope thanked them for their document The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized, of April 19, 2007.
Benedict XVI hoped that the text would be “a useful reference point for Pastors of the Church and for theologians, as well as a help and source of consolation to members of the faithful who have suffered in their families the unexpected death of a child before he or she could receive the bath of baptismal regeneration.” He invited them to continue their reflection on this subject: “Indeed, it is necessary to penetrate ever more deeply into the comprehension of the various manifestations of God’s love for all human beings, especially the lowliest and the poorest, which was revealed to us in Christ.” -- On the negation of Limbo, see the study by Rev. Fr. Patrick de La Rocque in Christendom n° 11: “Limbo - victim of the new theology of universal salvation.”
The International Theological Commission held a plenary meeting at the Vatican from October 1 to 5, 2007, and is currently working on two documents, one on “the natural moral law”, and the other on “the identity of theology.” Founded in 1969 by Paul VI, the Commission is made up of some thirty members nominated by the pope. Its role is to assist the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the study of important doctrinal issues. It is independent of the Holy See, even though it is presided over by the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the documents it issues have no magisterial status.
Concerning the natural law, Benedict XVI declared to the members of the International Theological Commission that “today, a positivist conception of laws seems to dominate many thinkers”; according to them “ humanity or society or indeed the majority of citizens is becoming the ultimate source of civil law. The problem that arises from this is therefore, not the search for good but the search for power, or more precisely, how to balance powers.”
Benedict XVI underlined that “At the root of this trend is ethical relativism, which some even see as one of the principal conditions for democracy, since relativism is supposed to guarantee tolerance of and reciprocal respect for people. But if this were so, the majority at any moment, would become the ultimate source of law. History very clearly demonstrates that majorities can err. True rationality is not guaranteed by the consensus of a large number but solely by the accountability of human reason to creative Reason and by listening together to this Source of our rationality.”
In the pope’s opinion, “When the fundamental requirements of human dignity, of human life, of the family institution, of a just social order, in other words, basic human rights, are at stake, no law devised by human beings can subvert the law that the Creator has engraved on the human heart, without society itself being dramatically affected, at its very foundations.” “To counter this weakness, which is a crisis of human civilization even before it is a Christian one, every conscience of all people of good will, of lay persons and those belonging to religions other than Christianity, must be mobilized, so that together and effectively, they commit themselves to the creation, in culture and civil and political society, of the conditions necessary for complete awareness of the inalienable value of the natural moral law.” (Sources: Zenit/Cipa/I.media)
