Pope Francis had a message to followers of the faith, as passed along to reporters aboard his flight back from the Philippines: You don’t have to breed “like rabbits” in order to be good Catholics, he said.
He first told reporters the story of a woman who was pregnant with her eighth child and said he asked her if she wanted to “leave behind seven young orphans,” Agence France-Presse reported.
“She said, ’I trust in God,’ ” the pope said. “But God gave us the means to be responsible. Some think, and excuse the term, that to be good Catholics, they must be like rabbits.”
But that way of thinking is folly, he said.
“That is an irresponsibility,” he said, the Daily Mail reported, adding that he told the woman, “But God gives you methods to be responsible.”
The pope also said there are several “licit” ways that Catholic women can control their pregnancies — ways that the Church is OK with, he said, the Daily Mail reported.
He also said that abiding Catholic Church teachings does not mean “Christians should have children one after the other,” AFP reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.