The Pope, the Prime Minister, and the Elephant in the Room
Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agree that birth rates need to increase, but why do they ignore the need to increase marriage rates?


“More children, less pets” was the catchy takeaway in worldwide coverage of Pope Francis’ joining Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on stage May 12, during a conference on Italy’s collapsing birthrates held near the Vatican. The pope’s story about his tragicomic encounter with a fiftyish woman who wanted him to bless her “baby”—a dog—certainly colorfully drove home his warnings about the...