Recently
I heard about a case of child abuse in which an infant was killed by the
mother’s boyfriend. Someone asked me what will become of the infant’s
soul, because the infant had not been baptized. What should I say?
 ou should speak the truth which,
in this case, is, “I don’t know.”
It would be tempting to assert
that the infant’s soul is now in heaven; to offer such a sweet response,
however, does nothing but assuage your own anxiety about being pressured
for an answer.
But, in all actuality, nothing
in the Bible gives a definitive answer to such a
question. So when you tell the truth you place yourself, along with the person
asking the question, right in the place of
unknowing—and right in God’s hands.
And there, trusting in God’s justice and
mercy, is where everyone should be all the
time.
What the
Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
1261 As regards
children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust
them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed,
the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’
tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children
come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way
of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent
is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ
through the gift of holy Baptism.
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