Pope Francis has suggested people who choose to have pets over children are acting selfishly.
The Pope’s comments came as he was discussing parenthood during a general audience at the Vatican in Rome.
“Today … we see a form of selfishness,” he told the audience. “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.
“This may make people laugh, but it is a reality.”
The practice “is a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity”, he added.
