Pope Francis agrees with Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni that the declining birth rate is a civilizational crisis. During a speech in Rome, the pope recalled a woman who had asked him to “bless her baby,” meaning her dog. “I lost my patience and told her off,” he told the crowd. This is not the first time the pontiff has made such remarks.

Italy’s current fertility rate is 1.24 children per woman. Meloni has thrown her weight behind a campaign to reach 500,000 births annually by 2033. The nation had 392,600 births in 2022. If the campaign fails, Italy could lose a fifth of its GDP in the next 20 years.