[Washington Examiner] Pope Francis gave a hard but necessary reminder to young adults earlier this month: Your dog, your cat, or any other type of pet you might have is not your child.In a weekly address about the virtues of parenthood, the pope encouraged people to "take the risk of welcoming children," biological or adopted, and mourned the declining birth rates found in many parts of the world. The dwindling family, he said, is a choice and a "form of selfishness."
"We see that some people do not want to have a child," he said. "Many couples do not have children because they do not want to or they only have one and not more. But they have domestic animals — two dogs, two cats."
Deliberately choosing not to have children "can take some of our humanity away from us," Francis said.
To be sure, pets are beloved members of our families. But Pope Francis is right that the joys of having a pet are not even remotely comparable to those of raising children. The former is a perk; the latter, as the pope believes and the Bible teaches, is a commandment. One of the very first things God tells Adam and Eve in Genesis is to "be fruitful and multiply."
But even among those who don’t consider themselves religious, the long-lasting benefits of having a family are obvious. Parents are usually happier than nonparents, especially in their old age, according to research. Some studies even indicate that having children makes a person more successful. Both of these findings make sense: Children give parents something to live for and invest in, and they provide meaning and fulfillment in a way nothing else can.