Pope Francis has repeated his divisive comments that in some countries people prefer having pets to children, a message that has struck a chord with many conservatives around the world.
The idea has re-entered the American political dialogue in the wake of a resurfaced clip of now-Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance criticizing some prominent Democrats as “childless cat ladies.”
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 and has written about his journey to joining the Catholic Church, also sent a series of emails that called Democratic leaders “childless sociopaths” who “don’t have a direct stake in this country.”
Pope Francis, 87, who is in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, made his remarks to political leaders as part of a 12-day tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. He said, “You’re an example for everyone, for all the countries that maybe, and this might sound funny, these families prefer to have a cat or a little dog instead of a child.”
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo laughed at the remark with Francis turning to him and saying, “it’s true, isn’t it?”
Francis has in the past criticized couples who choose to have pets rather than children, saying this “takes away our humanity.”
He has lamented low birth rates in Europe, particularly on his doorstep in Italy, and has backed plans by three government led by Giorgia Meloni to reverse the trend.
While US President Donald Trump’s running mate and Francis may agree on the importance of having children, the pope’s approach is at odds with Trumpism when it comes to migrants and climate change.
In 2016, Francis described then presidential candidate Trump’s plan to build a wall to stop migrants the US-Mexico border as “not Christian.”