Pope Francis criticises couples who choose to have pets instead of children

Pope Francescu has criticised couples who choose to have domestic animals instead of children, arguing that their decision to give up parenting leads to a loss of humanity and is a damage to civilisation.

The pope made comments on Wednesday, as he spoke to a general audience about St. Joseph, Jesus ' earthly father.

We see that people don't want to have children, or just one and not more. And many couples don't have children because they don't want, or they only have one, but they have two dogs, two cats. Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children”, the Pope said.

Yeah, it's ridiculous, I understand, but it's reality. And this denial of fatherhood or amorthicity takes us away. And so civilization ages and without humanity, because it loses the wealth of fatherhood and motherhood. And our country suffers because there are no children”.

The Pope's remarks, though surprising, echo the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding the importance of couples to bear or raise children and possible demographic consequences.

How many children in the world expect someone to take care of them. Having a child is always a danger, whether natural or adopted. But it's more dangerous not to have them. It's more dangerous to deny fathership, or deny amity, whether real or spiritual, ”, he added.