Pope under fire after calling people ‘selfish’ for having pets instead of kids
Global News
Pope Francis said people choosing to have pets over children 'takes away our humanity.'
Pope Francis has called couples who decide to have pets over children “selfish,” while instructing people to have more children in the face of declining populations.
Speaking to a general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, he said, “Today … we see a form of selfishness. We see that some people do not want to have a child. Sometimes they have one, and that’s it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality.”
The Pope argued that a couple’s decision to remain childless leads to a loss of “humanity” and does not serve civilization.
“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,” he continued.
His comments struck a sour note, with many people taking to social media to call out the childless leader of the Catholic Church.