Pope Francis enters ‘childless cat ladies’ debate, praising Indonesians’ large families

Tatan Syuflana, Associated Press pool

Pope Francis interacts with the young people of Scholas Occurrentes at Grha Pemuda Youth Center in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept. 4, 2024.

Pope Francis weighed in Wednesday on a subject that has played a major role in U.S. political discourse in recent weeks, praising those who choose to have children instead of “a cat or a small dog, and not a child.”

In remarks while visiting the presidential palace in Indonesia on Wednesday, Francis lamented the “lack of true and forward-looking commitment to implement the principles of social justice” in certain countries that has left people without the means to support themselves or a potential family.

“As a result, a considerable part of humanity is left on the margins, without the means for a dignified existence and no defence against the serious and growing social imbalances that trigger acute conflicts,” he said.

The pontiff said many respond by limiting the number of children families have, but he praised Indonesians for taking a different approach.

“How is this often resolved? With a law of death, that is by limiting births, limiting the greatest richness that a nation can have, its births,” Francis said. “Your country, meanwhile, has families with three, four, and five children. This is seen in the average age of the nation. Keep going like this. It is an example for all countries.”

“It may seem funny that perhaps some families prefer to have a cat or a small dog, and not a child, but this is not right,” he continued.

The remarks, which were highlighted by Reuters, come as Francis kicks off his 11-day trip, the longest of his pontificate. He met Wednesday with Indonesian clergy and leaders.

The pope has made similar remarks in the past. In 2022, he called it “a form of selfishness” when people “have dogs and cats that take the place of children,” and last year, he joined Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in calling on Italians to have more kids instead of pets.

The subject took on new life in the U.S. this summer after a 2021 video resurfaced of Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the GOP vice presidential nominee, saying the country was run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”

“It’s just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance said at the time. “And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

Vice President Harris has two stepchildren, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has adopted twins with his husband.

In the face of blowback from Democrats, Vance has since called the comment “sarcasm,” though he added that “having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way.”

Harris’s campaign website now sells shirts and mugs with the slogans “Proud member of the Childless Cat Ladies Club” and “Childless Cat Ladies for Kamala.”