Pope Francis says couples choosing pets over kids are selfish: 'Takes away humanity'
Pope Francis has said that couples who choose to have pets instead of kids are selfish. Speaking to a general audience about Saint Joseph, Jesus Christ's earthly father on Wednesday, January 5, Pope Francis criticized such couples, saying that their decision leads to a loss of 'humanity' and damages civilization.
Francis was showering praises on Joseph's decision to bring up Jesus as "among the highest forms of love". The Pope slightly deviated into the topic of adoption and orphaned children and then went on to make these comments on couples who choose not to have children but pets. "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," the Pope said. "Yes, it's funny, I understand, but it is the reality. And 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."
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Francis' comments is a reflection of what the Catholic Church teaches -- the importance of couples bearing or raising kids, and the societal consequences of choosing not to do so. He said that couples who are unable to have children biologically should consider adopting kids. "How many children in the world are waiting for someone to take care of them," Francis said. "Having a child is always a risk, either naturally or by adoption. But it is riskier not to have them. It is riskier to deny fatherhood, or to deny motherhood, be it real or spiritual."
The Pope had made similar comments on couples choosing pets instead of children in 2014. At a daily mass, Francis had said, "These marriages, in which the spouses do not want children, in which the spouses want to remain without fertility. This culture of well-being from ten years ago convinced us: ‘It’s better not to have children! It’s better! You can go explore the world, go on holiday, you can have a villa in the countryside, you can be care-free…it might be better – more comfortable – to have a dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the dog. Is this true or is this not? Have you seen it? Then, in the end this marriage comes to old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness. It is not fruitful, it does not do what Jesus does with his Church: He makes His Church fruitful.”