Italy’s 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.
Pope Francis is stepping up his campaign to urge Italians to have children, calling for long-term policies to help families and warning that the country’s demographic crisis was threatening the future.
“The number of births is the first indicator of the hope of a people,” Francis told an annual gathering of pro-family groups on Friday.
“Without children and young people, a country loses its desire for the future.”
Dunno if I’d call the guy who says he’s a literal god the most humble dude in history.
Of course it’s questionable if he did indeed make that claim (if he even really existed), but the Pope certainly believes that he did.