International Theological Commission: Hope of Salvation for Infants who die without being BaptisedThe ITC has studied the question of the fate of un-baptised infants, bearing in mind the principle of the hierarchy of truthsand the other theological principles of the universal salvific will of God, the unicity and insuperability of the mediation ofChrist, the sacramentality of the Church in the order of salvation, and the reality of original sin. In the contemporary contextof cultural relativism and religious pluralism the number of non-baptized infants has grown considerably, and therefore thereflection on the possibility of salvation for these infants has become urgent. The Church is conscious that this salvation isattainable only in Christ through the Spirit. But the Church, as mother and teacher, cannot fail to reflect upon the fate of allmen, created in the image of God, and in a more particular way on the fate of the weakest members of the human family andthose who are not yet able to use their reason and freedom.The traditional teaching on this topic has concentrated on the theory of limbo, understood as a state which includes the soulsof infants who die subject to original sin and without baptism, and who therefore neither merit the beatific vision nor yet aresubjected to any punishment, because they are not guilty of any personal sin. This theory, elaborated by theologiansbeginning in the Middle Ages, never entered into the dogmatic definitions of the magisterium, even if that samemagisterium did at times mention the theory in its ordinary teaching up until Vatican II. It remains therefore a possibletheological hypothesis. However, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992; = CCC), the theory of limbo is notmentioned. Rather, the catechism teaches that infants who die without baptism are entrusted by the Church to the mercy ofGod, as is shown in the specific funeral rite for such children. The principle that God desires the salvation of all peoplegives r...