Pope Francis is speaking out about couples who decide to have pets instead of children, calling it "selfish."
During a general audience at the Vatican, the Pope said substituting pets for children is a "denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us."
"Today… we see a form of selfishness," the pope said. "We see that some people do not want to have a child. Sometimes they have one, and that’s it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children."
The leader of the Catholic Church then added, "nations suffer from this."
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Pope Francis went on to say that while it's "always a risk" to have children biologically or through adoption, it's "even more risky not having children."
"How many children in the world are waiting for someone to take care of them!" he said.
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