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Tom Conners wrote:

Hi, guys —

  • If God is fair, why do all babies who die at birth, or are aborted, go to Heaven while the rest of us, who live, have to choose to believe in God or not?

Some will go to Hell. It seems God picks whoever He wants.

If I was an aborted baby, I would go right to Heaven.

  • Is that being fair?

Tom

  { If God is fair, why do aborted babies go to Heaven but the living can go to Hell for not believing? }

Eric replied:

Tom,

Your premise is wrong.

The Church does not teach that such infants go to Heaven.

It teaches that we entrust unbaptized babies, who die, to the Mercy of God. That is, we don't know where they go. See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Number 1261.

VI. The Necessity of Baptism

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"

(Mark 10:14; cf. 1 Timothy 2:4)

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.

The older belief was that they go to Hell (Limbo) but that was recently softened to the above.

Eric

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