Pope Francis sparks debate on pets vs parenthood
Pope Francis criticises couples choosing pets over children, calling it selfish and harmful to humanity. His comments have stirred global debate.
Pope Francis (C, in wheelchair) is welcomed during his arrival at SoekarnoHatta International Airport in Jakarta on September 3, 2024. – Pope Francis arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia on September 3 for the first stop of a four-nation tour in the Asia-Pacific that will be the longest of the 87-year-old’s papacy, according to an AFP reporter travelling with him. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
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…
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