Pope Francis said that staying childless will ultimately bring married couples nothing but “the bitterness of loneliness”.

The Pope also counselled childless couples to be fruitful and multiply, and not spend time raising pets when they could be raising children. He said that while a childless life offers better vacation opportunities, it will end in solitude:

This culture of well-being from ten years ago convinced us: ‘It’s better not to have children! It’s better! You can go explore the world, go on holiday, you can have a villa in the countryside, you can be care-free… it might be better – more comfortable – to have a dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the dog. Is this true or is this not? Have you seen it? Then, in the end this marriage comes to old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness. It is not fruitful, it does not do what Jesus does with his Church: He makes His Church fruitful.

Maybe Eamon Casey and Michael Cleary had the right idea after all…?

Pope Francis Urges Couples To Raise Kids, Not Cats And Dogs (Maya Rhodan, Time)

Pic: Wikipedia