Choosing Pets Over Parenthood is Selfish? It is According to Pope Francis.
In a public address at the Vatican, Pope Francis announced that it is selfish to opt for pets instead of having children.
Pope Francis said what?
Pope Francis made a statement at the Vatican on Wednesday that choosing to have pets instead of children is selfish. He was talking about Saint Joseph, Jesus’s earthly father, and applauding Joseph’s decision to raise Jesus even though he was not his biological son. The Pope said this was “among the highest forms of love”. He then transitioned from this biblical example of love to address what he sees as a problem, the declining global birth rate.
“We see that people do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many, many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one — but they have two dogs, two cats … Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children,” said Pope Francis.
The Pope claims that there is something wrong with couples who are choosing to not have children.
“A man or woman who do not develop the sense of fatherhood or motherhood, they are lacking something, something fundamental, something important.”
Why are people choosing to not have children?
The birth rate has been declining in the United States for years. According to a 2021 survey by Pew Research Center, 44% of childless Americans aged 18–49 say that it is ‘not too likely’ or ‘not at all likely’ that they will ever have children. This is a 7% increase from a 2018 survey that asked the same question. Reasons cited for not wanting to have children included personal health factors, financial considerations, the state of the world, and climate change.
But it’s not just Americans who are having fewer children. Birth rates are declining globally. The main factors contributing to declining birth rates are increased access to contraception and higher rates of education and employment for women. With more options, women are choosing to have fewer children.
Why does the Pope want more people to have children?
Pope Francis sees this declining birthrate as a problem because it “takes away our humanity”.
“…this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity. And in this way civilization becomes aged and without humanity, because it loses the richness of fatherhood and motherhood. And our homeland suffers, as it does not have children.”
In regards to couples who cannot have children due to health complications and infertility, the Pope encouraged them to adopt.
“How many children in the world are waiting for someone to take care of them?”
This is a surprisingly complicated question to answer. According to a HuffPost article, in 2015 90% of the 163 million estimated orphans were not orphans at all. Many had one or more living parents or guardians. The adoption industry is fraught with corruption and at its worst has led to kidnapping and child laundering. If you want to learn more about how corrupt adoption can be, check out episode 1 of The Traffickers entitled “The Dark Side of Adoption”.
With adoption being such an expensive, complicated, and often corrupt process, it is not a viable option for many couples who want children. The decision to have children is not one that should be taken lightly. It is a lifelong commitment and it inevitably is not going to be the right choice for everyone.
To all of the parents who are reading this article, cheers to you! Parenthood is an incredibly important job and we thank you for all that you do to keep your babies, kids, teens, and adult children happy and healthy! To those who want to have children and have not been able to yet, or who are facing complications and obstacles that have so far kept parenthood out of reach, my heart goes out to you. And to those who have chosen to raise pets or take care of themselves instead of having children, cheers to you too!
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