Pope Francis warns pets must not replace children in Italy

Starting a family in Italy is becoming a “titanic effort” that only the rich can afford, Pope Francis has warned.

Addressing a conference on Italy’s demographic crisis, he said pets were replacing children in many households.

Also on stage were dozens of young people, wearing t-shirts saying “we can do this” – alluding to convincing people to have more children.

Italy has one of the lowest fertility rates in the EU and births dropped below 400,000 last year – a new low.

In his speech in Rome, the Pope said the declining birth rate signalled a lack of hope in the future, with younger generations weighed down by a sense of uncertainty, fragility and precariousness.