Are Childless People Who Adopt Pets Selfish?
A Companion Animal Care Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Zoe Weil, Psychology Today / Animal Emotions
January 2022

Pope Francis: Stop pitting people against animals

On January 5, 2022, Pope Francis spoke in Rome and described people who have pets instead of children as selfish. He went on to say that pet keeping was “a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity.”

There's so much that is wrong about his statement.

1. Spoken by someone who himself chose not to have children, presumably for a higher good, the criticism is ironic. Many people forgo having children precisely because they are acting unselfishly and recognize the imperative of Laudato si', the Pope’s second encyclical that calls all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action” on environmental degradation and climate change. Such people choose not to have children because they do not want to contribute to more resource depletion and carbon emissions.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE (PDF).

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