Pope Francis has chided couples who choose not to have children, saying the decision is a \u201cselfish\u201d act.<\/p>\n
The statement, made in his general audience in St Peter\u2019s Square, will be seen as especially controversial in Italy, which has recorded a steady drop in its birth rate for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cA society with a greedy generation, that doesn\u2019t want to surround itself with children, that considers them above all worrisome, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society,\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe choice to not have children is selfish. Life rejuvenates and acquires energy when it multiplies: It is enriched, not impoverished.\u201d<\/p>\n
The address was focused primarily on the joy of children and their role in society. The pope recalled a childhood memory, when his mother was asked which of her five children was her favourite.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would say, \u2018I have five children like I have five fingers. If they beat one of my fingers, all five hurt. All of my children are mine, but each one is different,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou love your child because he is a child, not because he is beautiful, healthy, and good; not because he thinks like me, or embodies my desires. A child is a child: a life created by us but destined for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there was a strong correlation between a society\u2019s level of hope and its \u201cinter-generational harmony\u201d.<\/p>\n
The remarks echoed his earlier comments on the topic of childlessness. Last year, he warned against the lure of a \u201cculture of wellbeing\u201d that can come when a couple does not have children and has the money and freedom to take nice holidays and buy a second home in the countryside.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be better, more comfortable, to have a dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the dog,\u201d he said. \u201cIs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe joy of children makes their parents hearts throb and reopens the future,\u201d he said. \u201cChildren are not a problem of reproductive biology, or one of many ways to realize oneself in life. Let alone their parent\u2019s possession. Children are a gift. Do you understand? Children are a gift,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Last week, the pontiff said that hitting a child was an acceptable form of discipline, although it was important to maintain their \u201cdignity\u201d in the process.<\/p>\n
The Vatican later clarified the remark, saying the pope did not endorse violence or cruelty against a child.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0theguardian.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Francis has chided couples who choose not to have children, saying the decision is a \u201cselfish\u201d act. The statement, made in his general audience in St Peter\u2019s Square, will be seen as especially controversial in Italy, which has recorded a steady drop in its birth rate for decades. \u201cA society with a greedy generation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,14],"class_list":["post-91180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-palaver-newspaper","tag-papa-owusu-ankomah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}