Pope Francis sparks debate on pets vs parenthood

It is somewhat ironic that a man who is forbidden by his religion from ever having sex should be suggesting that couples who have pets, instead of children, are selfish and a threat to humanity.

Yet, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis certainly waded into it in Indonesia this week by praising the largely Muslim country’s birthrate by joking: “In your country people make three, four or five children, that’s an example for every country, while some prefer to only have a cat or a little dog”, before adding: “This can’t go well.”

The Pontiff may have been pushing the old line from Genesis that people should “be fruitful and multiply”, or reminding his own believers that sex is there for procreation and not fun – and that birth control is still a no-no to the Vatican.

ALSO READ: ‘Historic visit’: Pope arrives in Muslim-majority Indonesia to start Asia-Pacific tour

On the other hand, this Pope has a mischievous sense of humour and loves a media soundbite…

One wonders what Pope Francis would have made of Dutchman Jonathan Meijer, seemingly a world champion sperm donor, who is suing Netflix for claiming he could have fathered more than 3 000 children, when the real number is “only” 550.

Maybe you need to canonise him, Your Holiness…