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Sunday, May 14, 2023

The Pope Made a True Statement! No kids, no hope!


Earlier this month at a conference on the Italian birth rate, Pope Francis said, “The birth of children, in fact, is the main indicator for measuring the hope of a people. If few are born it means there is little hope. And this not only has repercussions from an economic and social point of view but also undermines confidence in the future.”

That is absolutely true! It's a little ironic coming from a pope who said Catholics shouldn't breed like rabbits. But, to his credit, he also promoted Church teaching against contraception on that occasion.


Catholics used to be known for their openness to life and by their large families. When I was growing up, our family (ten children) was not all that unusual. We weren't the only ones taking up an entire pew at Sunday Mass. Even as an adult, I remember a friendly taxi driver in New York City years ago commenting on our five children with a chuckle. "You must be Catholic or Mormon." I doubt that happens much today. More likely...."You must be Muslim."

The collapse of the birthrate is a disaster for a nation. China is reaping the rotten fruit of their one-child policy. Other Asian countries have it even worse. In his article, Anti-Natal Engineering, Scott Yenor of the Claremont Institute, describes how political policies promoting population control in South Korea poisoned relations between men and women. Between promoting feminism and implementing economic penalties for large families, the government helped kill the desire in both men and women to marry and form families. Who needs it? The country recently lifted the ban on importing sex robots. Apparently sex with a machine is preferable in the minds of many men to real, more complicated relationships. 

Politically, antagonism between the sexes is reflected by the growth of the anti-feminist People Power Party which attracts almost 60% of men under thirty while the feminist party attracts 64% of women in the same age group. The romantic "dance" of the sexes has devolved into a war dance. The sexual divide between men and women is widening with the collapse of marriage and a total fertility rate (TFR) well below replacement level (.79). In fact, East Asian nations have the lowest TFRs in the world. 

All of South Korea's efforts to reverse the disastrous policies of the past and raise the birth rate are failing. The nation is well on the way to extinction. How did it happen? Here's a bit of the explanation from Yenor's article:
Oral contraception was introduced in 1967; abortion was legalized in 1973; tube-tying was normalized in 1976. Park’s government and its successors created incentives for families to have fewer children. In 1974, child tax exemptions were limited to the first three children—then, in 1977, to the first two. In 1984, education subsidies were likewise limited to the first two children. Those sterilized under national programs received priority placement in public housing, better government-­sponsored loans for housing, and more income support. Governments provided tax exemptions and public ­funding for abortions, vasectomies, tube-tying, and oral contraception.

It's hard to undo the brainwashing of decades.  

But the bad news isn't limited to Asia. The U.S. is also experiencing a serious birth dearth with a TFR below replacement level. Environmentalists may be happy, especially the extremists who think the best thing a person can do is commit suicide and have his body composted for fertilizer. Those of us with foresight can see how a crashing population will impact all of us. Big companies that have embraced population control policies will see their customer base disappear, especially those catering to the needs and desires of families with children. Elderly people aren't MacDonald's or Starbuck's customer base. Good-bye, happy meals. Neither do they purchase much baby food, children's books and toys, or swing sets and other playground equipment.

How many schools, day care centers, recreation programs, etc. will be shuttered? With an aging population the push for euthanasia will increase. Get rid of those useless eaters cluttering up the planet. More population collapse.

On the other hand, there is one place that the birth dearth is not apparent. Go to a Traditional Latin Mass and you will see numerous families with five, six, eight, ten children. Just as the Israelites became a threat to the pagan Pharoahs of Egypt, young, devout Catholic families threaten the powers that be, which explains exactly why the FBI is targeting them and labeling them domestic terrorists. They threaten big government just by their existence.

But we know the end of the story for the Israelites and how persecution and martyrdom became the seedbed of the faith. It will happen again. Holy Catholic families living the faith is the answer to the devil's assault on the world. He thinks he can defeat God by destroying the family. It ain't going to happen. 

Now if only Pope Francis and his like-minded minions would recognize where hope lies instead of trying to stamp out the greatest light in the Church, the traditional Latin Mass. He can't do it, of course, because the faith is not a secular institution. God can use anything to advance goodness and truth, even persecution (perhaps especially persection) and He will do it. So embrace hope and pray harder.

Want hope? Go to a Traditional Latin Mass: 2015 Altar boys' Mass in Trenton, NJ

Check out Latin Mass resources for children.

Let us all stay faithful and soldier on in the Valley of Tears. God wins and He continues to send babies to families and communities that welcome them with open arms. 

And a blessed and happy Mother's Day to all you moms and grandmas out there! May your number increase.

May Jesus Christ be praised!

22 comments:

  1. This article of yours coincides with a note I am sending to a friend who worries about what resources future generations will have. For him, the sky is always falling. Here is a letter I am sending to him:

    Fisheries may be getting "fished out," and South Koreans consume a lot of fish, but the good news is that South Korea's birth rate is about .78, meaning that a hundred couples have 78 children. And 78 couples will have about 32 children, and by the third generation the fish will be doing great!

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  2. As a former Protestant, my views on life were more views about my own success and comforts going forward - how will this help, or not help *me*.

    As a Catholic, one of the first things to change were my views on life. Not about me. Only about God. Not oriented toward my own heaven on earth. Oriented toward the Communion of Saints willed by God in true Heaven. The sexual act was not a lifestyle choice within a marriage. Sexual activity was *strictly* oriented toward the *True North* of the Beatific Vision.

    So now I hear the logic of my still Protestant family and it is like nails on a chalk-board. It is all so very practical, such that when the world is experiencing difficulty … “who in their right mind would subject new life to such conditions? Limitations on life is love” - in their logic.

    The new Catholic logic transcends self, fundamentally. Suffering us no longer a bad thing - it is expected, even good - when united with the willing suffering of Our Lord. “Life” is not a personal choice and achievement; Life is from God according to His will and pleasure and such, by definition, is *ALWAYS* good. The focus, not on earth but heaven - raising souls for the Communion of Saints.

    We could no longer have children, so we adopted … a lot. The Catholic Faith is belief, first; practice second - believe but also do. Our highest and perhaps some purpose in life us to raise life and evangelize God’s world for His eternal Kingdom. Spend everything we have for that; leave nothing behind when you reach the end and are left with nothing more than recollections and memories if what you did and failed to do.

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  3. Sounds like you have an interesting and edifying story, Aqua. Want to do a guest post for the blog? I'm always interested to see your comments.

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  4. Mary Ann, that would be cool and an honor. My wife (esp) and I love to talk about life and adoption. We live in a culture of death, and once you peak under the curtain that separates you in the death from the light of life (for its own sake and for God’s) on the other; once you see all that light and what could be, after having been immersed in the cultural darkness of self-centeredness … no going back!

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  5. He has it backwards though. Lack of hope comes first. I have never wanted kids because even back in the 80s I saw modern society is hopeless garbage and slavery was all there was to look forward to.

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  6. How sad, Anonymous. How do you feel about your own life? Do you regret being born? I hope not. God allowed us to be born at this time in history in order to reflect His hope to the world. Every one of us who loves the Lord has the opportunity to bring joy and hope to others. Hard times make heroes and saints. And one of the greatest joys of life is a new baby. I'm so grateful on this mother's day for my five children and 27 grandchildren. Is there suffering? Yes! But that simply unites us more closely to Christ and gives us the opportunity to "make up what's lacking" in His suffering by uniting our will to His.

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  7. Most saints were lifelong virgins. Jerome even said "Marriage propagates the earth, but virginity propagates the heavens." This is due in part to religious zeal, but undoubtedly also partly to saints having higher IQ, as its not usually taught that celibacy is necessary to salvation so they must have high IQ considerations behind this decision. They are special, that's why they're saints. The great retarded mass of "humanity" spawn like aninals, while the saints refrain out of compassion on their potential offspring by not bringing them to this hellscape, and on the animalistic masses by showing them a higher example. They must also have seen that all that awaits the sexhaver is a form of slavery.

    As Wisdom in the Dueterocanon says in 3:14-15 (RSVCE)

    "For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled,
    who has not entered into a sinful union;
    she will have fruit when God examines souls.
    14 Blessed also is the eunuch whose hands have done no lawless deed,
    and who has not devised wicked things against the Lord;
    for special favor will be shown him for his faithfulness,
    and a place of great delight in the temple of the Lord."

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  8. What a bunch of baloney, Anonymous. Your contempt for those who marry and have children shows an absolute ignorance of Scripture. There would be no saints without the family. Every saint was conceived by parents and reared in a family. Do you consider yourself among the "animalistic masses?" I'm not posting any more of your nonsense.

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  9. Jerome said this kind of stuff and he translated the whole Bible, and his translation was declared infallible at Trent. Again, it is Jerome who said "Marriage propagates the earth, but virginity propagates the heavens." Jerome also was vigorously opposed to a bishop named Vigilantius who (remember, celibate clergy was not a thing yet per se in Jerome's time but was implemented by a later councils due to Jerome and Augustine having argued for it!)...Jerome opposed Vigilantius for having children! And for making good cheese-cakes...not sure why making good cheese-cakes is a problem.

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  10. Re: Anonymous Anonymous said at May 14, 2023 at 2:38 PM "I have never wanted kids because even back in the 80s I saw modern society is hopeless garbage and slavery was all there was to look forward to."

    If the Virgin had thought in that way there would be no Christ. No redemption.

    And you lost the opportunity to birth a Saint.

    God bless

    Richard W Comerford

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    1. She was imptegnated supernaturally. Lol. She didn't choose it.

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  11. Anonymous Anonymous said at May 15, 2023 at 8:05 PM "Most saints were lifelong virgins"

    We know only the formally canonized Saints and we do not even know if they were "lifelong virgins". Never mind the unknown Saints in Heaven.

    God said to Adam and Eve: "Genesis 1:28" "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it."

    This command is repeated in Leviticus and again in Jeremiah.

    God bless

    Richard W Comerford

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    1. And others, like Saint Augustine were addicted to the sins of the flesh. Virginal purity is loved in a special way by God, but conversion and the forsaking of old sinful habits for love of Him, have earned many a profligate an entry pass into heaven.

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  12. In regards to anonymous comment above: “Marriage propagates the earth, but virginity propagates the heavens.

    The words within this post suggest to me *not* that anonymous is himself (her) a chaste virgin, either physically or spiritually, (can’t hide that spiritual state) but rather - like so many in the culture of death - just looking for excuses, reasons, to have few or no kids.

    God wants many souls with him in Paradise. Start from that premise and work out from there.

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  13. "She was impregnated supernaturally. Lol. She didn't choose it."

    Of course she chose it! Her "Fiat" was the answer to God's request through the angle Gabriel. Every woman who says "fiat" to her spouse in marriage and welcomes the possibility of new life, imitates Mary's "Fiat" to God to become the Mother of the Word.

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  14. Anonymous - comments like this reveal you as a non-Catholic bot: “remember, celibate clergy was not a thing yet”.

    “Celibate clergy” is not “a thing”. Any Catholic knows why. Any non-Catholic will never understand.

    I see who you are. The Catholic teaching on Life is comprehensive and utterly incomprehensible to non-Catholics. Conversion is required.

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    1. Celibate clergy is not a thing in Roman Catholicism? So priests and bishops are not celibate? Hmmm.....

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  15. From Encyclical Sacra Virginitas of Pope Pius XII on Consecrated Virginity - Pope Pius XII (1954)

    “Introduction:

    “Virginity and perfect chastity are the most beautiful jewel of the Church

    “1. Holy virginity and that perfect chastity which is consecrated to the service of God is without doubt among the most precious treasures which the Founder of the Church has left in heritage to the society which He established.

    “ … for from the very earliest days of the Church they have considered virginity a consecration of body and soul offered to God. Thus, St. Cyprian demands of virgins that "once they have dedicated themselves to Christ by renouncing the pleasures of the flesh, they have vowed themselves body and soul to God . . . and should seek to adorn themselves only for their Lord and please only Him.

    “[18] And the Bishop of Hippo, going further, says, "Virginity is not honored because it is bodily integrity, but because it is something dedicated to God. . . Nor do we extol virgins because they are virgins, but because they are virgins dedicated to God in loving continence."[19] And the masters of Sacred Theology, St. Thomas Aquinas[20] and St. Bonaventure,[21] supported by the authority of Augustine, teach that virginity does not possess the stability of virtue unless there is a vow to keep it forever intact.”

    - end quote -

    There is much more here in the Encyclical -

    https://fsspx.news/en/content/47537

    This is just a sample of the Catholic teaching on virginity, closely tied to chastity, closely tied to the spiritual aspiration of a soul who desires God supremely above all things, willing to consecrate hear, mind, body, soul for God and the Kingdom of God. It is a perpetual and total consecration of self to God which includes but is not in any way limited to the sexual. A consecrated virgin is set apart and special.

    Contrast that with the world’s def of virginity.

    Virgin (noun): “a person who has never had sexual intercourse.”

    See the difference?

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    1. So someone quoting Jerome on virginity doesn't dedicate his virginity to God? Really?

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  16. https://fsspx.news/en/content/47537
    Consecrated virginity

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