The pope calls child-free people/parents of only children 'selfish'

[Anonymous]

I think your putting words and ideas into his mouth. He isn't saying no exception die trying to have more kids, didn't even mention tough circumstances. That said, I've never been a fan of his. I assume he just wants healthy happy families to be bigger or exist at all but I jump to positive intent when others speak or post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your putting words and ideas into his mouth. He isn't saying no exception die trying to have more kids, didn't even mention tough circumstances. That said, I've never been a fan of his. I assume he just wants healthy happy families to be bigger or exist at all but I jump to positive intent when others speak or post.

It’s none of his business whether it’s “tough circumstances” or life threatening physical issues or infertility or not.

Some people do not want kids. Many more cannot afford them. They should not have them. Period.

He should redirect his energies to cleaning up his own disordered house about children.

[Anonymous]

How many children does the pope have? The defense rests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with him in certain ways.

That being said he’s a puppet. He says highly inflammatory things all the time. I often disagree with him. I follow God not some puppet man who’s not actual following the word.

Who is pulling his strings? Catholics would say the Holy Spirit is. And you?
From what I understand he has never said anything to contradict the Catholic Church’s doctrine and promoting their teachings is kind of his job or profession or duties of his office. I fail to see what the big deal is as no one is compelled to obey, even Catholics are free to leave I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Is he covering the related time and expense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Pope says a lot of things. A lot of what he says is good, and helpful, and needing to be said. No one here is going to give him credit for that. Instead, they will seize upon, misinterpret, twist to the extreme, and use out of context things that he says that, on a surface level, are disagreeable -- because they are predisposed against him and against the Catholic religion.

I strongly suspect that if one were to actually talk with him, he would agree that, under the many circumstances described here by all of these faux outraged posters, it's not "selfish" not to have kids. No one here would be interested in doing that, however. That's not your way.

ah, yes. catholics are soooo oppressed.

[Anonymous]

Listen, if Catholics stop having babies, he’s out of a job. There’s not much more to this. Pretty sure Jesus would want everyone to have less babies and take care of healing our planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listen, if Catholics stop having babies, he’s out of a job. There’s not much more to this.

+1 The Catholic Church has always been pro-procreation for those very reasons.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he could explain to me, then, why I’ve never been able to have the baby that I’ve been desperately praying for? It has been five heartbreaking years of this struggle. Is God listening? Am I undeserving? These are rhetorical questions, but I write them here to make the point: these words about selfishness are destructive and cruel. If he didn’t mean for his words to apply to people in my situation, maybe he could think a little more carefully about his words. I feel even worse after reading this even though I know intellectually that it’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

What makes me sad is the the Church is anti-IVF. Had a good friend struggle for years to get pregnant and every Sunday, when a particular priest would do the sermon, he always managed to somehow slip in that using medical intervention to get pregnant was an abomination. She was always there with her beautiful DD - conceived through IVF. Don’t understand how it’s okay to rely on medical intervention to treat cancer but literally (god forbid!) women shouldn’t do IVF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe he could explain to me, then, why I’ve never been able to have the baby that I’ve been desperately praying for? It has been five heartbreaking years of this struggle. Is God listening? Am I undeserving? These are rhetorical questions, but I write them here to make the point: these words about selfishness are destructive and cruel. If he didn’t mean for his words to apply to people in my situation, maybe he could think a little more carefully about his words. I feel even worse after reading this even though I know intellectually that it’s ridiculous.

+1, a dear family friend struggled for over ten years with infertility. I am no longer Catholic but this just is infuriating. My friend did have a baby finally but the pregnancy was very hard and she had to be hospitalized twice due to bleeding. They were lucky and only had a short nicu stay. But to hear a male celibate preach “just have more babies!” Is so painful to so many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What makes me sad is the the Church is anti-IVF. Had a good friend struggle for years to get pregnant and every Sunday, when a particular priest would do the sermon, he always managed to somehow slip in that using medical intervention to get pregnant was an abomination. She was always there with her beautiful DD - conceived through IVF. Don’t understand how it’s okay to rely on medical intervention to treat cancer but literally (god forbid!) women shouldn’t do IVF.

It's her choice not to leave the church. There are plenty of options that don't have an anti-IVF stance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What makes me sad is the the Church is anti-IVF. Had a good friend struggle for years to get pregnant and every Sunday, when a particular priest would do the sermon, he always managed to somehow slip in that using medical intervention to get pregnant was an abomination. She was always there with her beautiful DD - conceived through IVF. Don’t understand how it’s okay to rely on medical intervention to treat cancer but literally (god forbid!) women shouldn’t do IVF.

It's her choice not to leave the church. There are plenty of options that don't have an anti-IVF stance.

Millions of catholics basically ignore the churches position on all matter of reprodutive issues. Not really the wheelhouse for childless priests.

[Anonymous]

He’s got a point on the pet thing. People do spend enormous time and energy on pets, and seem to be getting more and more attached. Not that it’s a zero-sum game, but some of that energy could be spent on helping the poor, tutoring kids, etc. I also think it’s nuts that we slaughter millions of cows, chickens, and pigs annually to feed pets.

[Anonymous]

I don't see why the outrage. American Catholics tend not to follow the Pope anyway. Many I know have had abortions and not thought twice about it.