ROME (AP) 鈥 Pope Francis pressed his campaign Friday to urge Italians to have children, calling for long-term policies to help families and warning that the country鈥檚 demographic crisis was threatening the future.
鈥淭he number of births is the first indicator of the hope of a people,鈥 Francis told an annual gathering of pro-family groups. 鈥淲ithout children and young people, a country loses its desire for the future.鈥
It was 鈥 and beyond that Europe 鈥 to invert what he has called the demographic winter facing many industrialized countries.
Italy鈥檚 birth rate, already one of the lowest in the world, has been falling steadily for about 15 years and reached a record low last year with 379,000 babies born.
With the Vatican鈥檚 strong backing, the right-wing government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has mounted a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033, a rate that demographers say is necessary to prevent the economy from collapsing under the weight of Italy鈥檚 aging population.
Francis called for long-term political strategies and policies to encourage couples to have children, including an end to precarious work contracts and impediments to buying homes, and viable alternatives so women don鈥檛 have to choose between motherhood and careers.
鈥淭he problem of our world is not children being born: it is selfishness, consumerism and individualism which make people sated, lonely and unhappy," Francis said.
Francis is expected to continue emphasizing his demographic call during the upcoming which has hope as its main theme. In the official Jubilee decree, or papal bull, that was promulgated Thursday, Francis called for a new social covenant among Christians to encourage couples to be open to having children.
