In April 2007, the Vatican revised its ancient doctrine about Limbo, the place where the souls of “unbaptized infants who die” are supposed to go. St. Augustine even preached centuries ago that such infants go to hell, but with only “mild condemnation.” Limbo (from the Latin word for “edge”) was supposed to be somewhere between heaven and hell. Now the Church is ready to believe that these unfortunate infants actually go to heaven. A brighter and lighter side of the word limbo has something to do with a popular form of dance that originated on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The limbo dancer leans backward and tries to get past and under a horizontal pole that goes lower and lower. The challenge, and fun, is doing this without the body touching the pole or the floor. Sonjah Stanley-Niaah said, “Consistent with certain African beliefs, the dance reflects the whole cycle of life. The dancers emerge on the other side, as their heads clear the pole, as in the triumph of life over death.” Now, isn’t that a happier thought than the poor souls of unbaptized infants going to hell?
