The Pope, the Prime Minister, and the Elephant in the Room, by David Ayers, Ph.D. 

“More children, less pets” was the catchy takeaway in worldwide coverage of Pope Francis’ joining Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on stage May 12, during a conference on Italy’s collapsing birthrates held near the Vatican. The pope’s story about his tragicomic encounter with a fiftyish woman who wanted him to bless her “baby”—a dog—certainly colorfully drove home his warnings about the misplaced, upside-down personal priorities among many modern Italians that are contributing to their looming “demographic winter.” Francis has made similar remarks about prioritizing “pets over children” in the past. …