Pope: Have Children, Not Cats or Dogs

Hey cat ladies and dog lovers—the pope wants you to have children. At a Vatican Mass on Monday, Pope Francis warned a group of 15 married couples not to substitute pets for having kids, which will, he said, lead to "old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness." Last week, Italy announced a record low birthrate for 2013, dropping 64,000 over the past five years. "You can go explore the world, go on holiday, you can have a villa in the countryside, you can be carefree," he said. "It might be better—more comfortable—to have a dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the dog. Is this true or not? Have you seen it?"