The Ruth Institute seconded Pope Francis’s comments about “selfish” couples who choose pets over children, and defended him against critics. It isn’t the Pope versus pets, it really is society against children.
Speaking at the Vatican last week, the Pope said, “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 and that takes the place of children.”
Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., agreed. “What the pontiff said about those who choose pets over babies reminded me of the P.D. James novel Children of Men, set in a future where people aren’t able to conceive, due to a worldwide plague of infertility. To satisfy frustrated maternal instincts, pets have taken the place of children, and the Church of England even holds baptisms for kittens.”
Morse observed: “As you can imagine, anti-natalists went nuts over the Pope’s comments. In Cosmopolitan, Melanie Hamlett (described as a comedian and journalist), wailed that His Holiness had laid a guilt trip on her. Poor thing.”
To Hamlett’s charge that society tries to make her feel guilty about choosing to be childless, Morse responded: “Oh, come on. It’s the Climate Change crowd that tries to manipulate people through guilt by accusing parents and their innocent children of destroying the environment. Pope Francis’s comment was no more guilt-inducing than these non-stop ‘climate change’ scolds.”
Don Feder, Ruth Inst. Communications Director, stated, “The Pope has spoken out frequently about declining fertility as a threat to humanity’s future. In most developed countries, fertility is well below replacement. Nations like Japan are already losing people. Sometime in this century, perhaps as early as 2050, worldwide fertility will be well below replacement. That’s when our problems will really begin.”
The Ruth Institute’s Demographic Winter Resource Center reports on what some have called the plague of the 21st century, and includes a video featuring Dr. Morse and Mr. Feder, among other experts.
About the Ruth Institute
The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization, leading an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love.
Jennifer Roback Morse has a Ph.D. in economics and has taught at Yale and George Mason University. She is the author of The Sexual State and Love and Economics – It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.
To schedule an interview with Dr. Morse, contact media@ruthinstitute.org.
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