Pope Francis no doubt sparked the outrage of people who push their pets around in strollers on Wednesday after accusing couples who pick their furry friends over having human children of “a certain selfishness.” Speaking before a Vatican audience on the subject of parenthood, His Holiness suggested favoring a dog or a cat over a baby “is a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity.” Doubling down, he added, “This may make people laugh, but it is a reality.” The pontiff previously worried aloud over declining birthrates, saying in 2014 that pet ownership was “another phenomenon of cultural degradation.” He is not known to keep an animal in his Vatican residence. This is in contrast to his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who had a noted soft spot for cats, including Chico, a domestic shorthair who lived at his home in Germany.