Skip to main content
Tags: Pope Francis | Catholics | contraception

Pope: Catholics Don't Have to Breed 'Like Rabbits'

Monday, 19 January 2015 02:19 PM EST

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis is denouncing what he calls the "ideological colonization" of families and the developing world, where he says progressive, Western ideas about birth control and gay rights are increasingly being imposed by groups, institutions or individual nations — often as a condition for development aid.

No, he said, Catholics don't have to "be like rabbits" and have more children than is safe or responsible.

The Pope said there are plenty of church-approved ways to regulate births. But he said most importantly, no outside institution should impose its views on families.

Speaking to reporters en route home from the Philippines, he said: "Every people deserves to conserve its identity without being ideologically colonized."

he said Monday he hopes to visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay this year, as well as the Central African Republic and Uganda.

The 2015 trips, still in their planning stages and not confirmed, would come on top of his planned three-city visit to the United States in September.

Francis disclosed his travel plans during an in-flight news conference on the way home from the Philippines.

Francis said he planned to canonize the 17th-century missionary Junipero Serra, who established nine missions in California, during the Washington leg of the U.S. trip, likely at the National Shrine.

But he essentially ruled out traveling to El Salvador to beatify slain Archbishop Oscar Romero, saying the ceremony would be celebrated by a Vatican official, as is the norm for beatifications.

Francis said the proposed African trips would likely take place at the end of 2015 to avoid the rainy seasons. No dates were given for Ecuador, Bolivia or Paraguay, but the visits are likely in July, Vatican officials said. Francis also confirmed he hoped to visit Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in 2016 — and Peru at some point.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, stressed that the travel plans were "provisional and that nothing has been decided."

Francis said he would have loved to have entered the U.S. via the Mexican border, saying it would have been a "beautiful thing, as a sign of brotherhood and of help to the immigrants."

"But you know that going to Mexico without going to visit the Madonna (of Guadalupe) would be a drama. A war could break out!" he said, laughing. He said a Mexico visit would come in the future.

Speaking as his plane passed through Chinese airspace, Francis again expressed his openness to going to China, and denied recent speculation that he had turned down a requested audience with the Dalai Lama out of fears of angering Beijing.

Francis said the audience was rejected as a matter of Vatican protocol. "The reason was not a refusal of the person or fear of China," he said.

China severed relations with the Holy See in 1951 after the communists took over. Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and now Francis have sought to mend ties.

 

© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Newsfront
Pope Francis is denouncing what he calls the "ideological colonization" of families and the developing world, where he says progressive, Western ideas about birth control and gay rights are increasingly being imposed by groups and institutions.
Pope Francis, Catholics, contraception
482
2015-19-19
Monday, 19 January 2015 02:19 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
TOP

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved