During his first official visit with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Oct. 14, Pope Leo XIV lamented Europe’s falling birth rates and invited renewed efforts to protect and promote the family.
“In recent decades, we have witnessed in Europe as we have seen a notable decline in the birth rate,” the Pope said in a speech after the visit. “This calls for a concerted effort to promote choices at all levels in favor of the family, supporting its efforts, promoting its values, and protecting its needs and rights.”
Pope Leo praised the selfless love often shown within families, calling it “heroic” for its role in sustaining communities and society at large.
“‘Father,’ ‘mother,’ ‘son,’ ‘daughter,’ ‘grandfather,’ ‘grandmother,’” he said. “These are words that in Italian tradition naturally express and evoke sentiments of love, respect, and dedication — sometimes heroic — for the good of the family, community, and therefore for that of society as a whole.”
He stressed the necessity of economic and labor conditions that make family life viable, particularly for young couples and noted that attention must be paid to the needs of both motherhood and fatherhood.
“Let us do everything possible to give confidence to families — especially young families — so that they may look to the future with serenity and grow in harmony,” he continued.
His remarks come as Italy confronts a deepening population crisis. In 2024, the nation recorded its lowest number of births since national unification in 1861, despite numerous governmental initiatives to encourage larger families, CatholicVote reported April 4. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made reversing the crisis a central policy goal, introducing tax breaks, extended parental leave, and other financial incentives.
But some experts argue the roots of the problem run deeper. As CatholicVote reported in April, one demographic researcher, Maria Rita Testa, recently said that difficulties balancing work and family life, fragmented family policies, and “the low level of gender equality in the labour market and within the couple” all contribute to Italy’s population crisis.
Meanwhile, several reports indicate that falling birth rates are not unique to Europe; population decline continues to accelerate worldwide.
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