Archbishop Aguer: Why Aren’t Bishops Speaking Out About Collapsing Birth Rates?

Births in our country dropped from 777,012 in 2014 to 460,902 in 2023; the birth rate in those years fell from 18.2 per thousand to 9.9 per thousand. This population crisis is due to declining nuptials, marriages and first births at a late age, declining birth and fertility rates, and the consequent aging of the population.

The data reveals a political problem: “to govern is to populate.” The expression is attributed to Juan Bautista Alberdi, though he was referring to immigration. If we were to continue to accept and attribute some value to it, we would have to translate it: “to govern is to ensure more babies are born.” This is not at all simple, because the meaning of the family has changed, courtship has become early cohabitation, and the use of contraception has become widespread. Even the memory of Humanae vitae has been lost. …

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