Pope Francis emphasized the need to have children rather than pets. The Holy Father pointed out that everyone can have a dog, but it is necessary to have children, especially at this time when there are few births, a situation that worries him.
This was indicated by the Holy Father in the audience granted this Saturday, January 20 in the Vatican to the members of the Association for Subsidiarity and Modernization of Local Entities (ASMEL), held in the Clementine Room of the Apostolic Palace.
After highlighting the increasing importance of different forms of artificial intelligence and after warning that they should not be “instruments of death,” but rather part of caring for people and our common home, Pope Francis referred to the shortage of births, especially in Europe.
“Speaking of care, I am concerned about the few births. There is a ‘culture of depopulation’ that comes from the few births of children. It’s true, everyone can have a dog , but it is necessary to have children. Italy, Spain… need children,” the Pontiff highlighted.
“Think that one of these Mediterranean countries has an average age of 46 years! We must take the problem of birth rates seriously, take it seriously because the future of the country is at stake there, the future is at stake there,” Pope Francis warned.
“Having children is a must to survive, to move forward. Think about this: this is not an advertisement for a birth agency, but I want to highlight the drama of the few births, which must be taken very seriously,” the Pope remarked.
In November 2023 , before a group of Italian pediatricians, Pope Francis warned that “Italy is an aging country: let us hope that it can reverse the trend, creating favorable conditions for young people to have confidence and regain courage and joy.” of becoming parents.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t say this but I will say it: today it is preferable to have a dog than a child. Your task is very limited, but that of veterinarians grows even more! And this is not a good sign,” the Holy Father indicated then, in an audience held in the Vatican.
In May 2023, Pope Francis encouraged Italians to end the “demographic winter” to increase the birth rate in Europe.
On that occasion, the Holy Father recalled that he was going to greet a lady “about fifty years old or so; I greeted the lady and she opened a bag and said, ‘Bless me, my baby’: a little dog! I had no patience there and I scolded the lady: ‘Madam, so many children are hungry, and you are with the little dog! Brothers and sisters, these are scenes of the present, but if things continue like this, this will be the custom of the future, let us be careful.”
Two years earlier, in May 2021, Pope Francis highlighted that “children are the hope that makes a people reborn.”
“For the future to be good, we must take care of families, especially young women, harassed by worries that risk paralyzing their life projects,” he stressed on that occasion.