A proper balance is needed between love for animals, affection for dogs, and the value of children. The Financial Times sides with Pope Francis, who was widely criticized when he spoke about it.

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In a portrait that feels like a subdued cry of alarm, the Financial Times sees a danger in Italy.

Not only linked to the now well-known demographic decline, but to a widespread phenomenon: dogs are increasingly taking on roles that were once reserved for children and grandchildren.

 
 

Dogs and children, the Financial Times’ warning

The authoritative British daily cites as an example the new Dog Relais hotel at Fiumicino airport, with underfloor cooling, aromatic oils, private gardens, and arnica massages.

A testimony to how Italians’ economic and emotional attention is now more focused on pets than on children.

In 2022, spending on animal care in Italy reached €6.8 billion, an amount invested in affection toward four-legged friends that may also reveal a silent loneliness, a desire to care that perhaps finds no response in the growing demographic dryness.

Adding to this are the various exclusive services dedicated to Fido, such as organizing solemn funeral ceremonies.

Of course, this is not exclusively an Italian issue. Consider that 40% of families report having at least one pet, while in the United Kingdom and the United States the percentages exceed 60%.

The problem is not that they have become, from simple creatures, “centers of affection”; on the contrary, for many people they also serve as an antidote to extreme loneliness.

 

A study: declining birth rates and excessive care for pets

The most significant ethical aspect is instead the one repeatedly pointed out by Pope Francis, namely the existence of a prevailing imbalance.

In several of his highly contested interventions, Bergoglio observed that dogs and cats begin to occupy emotional spaces that were once reserved for children and grandchildren. What has never been said is that this is a topic explored in the scientific literature.

Recently, in European Psychologist, a review of studies analyzed the phenomenon of considering one’s dogs as children, attributing to them childlike roles.

Researchers explained this through evolutionary and cultural hypotheses, suggesting that due to changes such as declining birth rates, humans have redirected their biological needs to nurture and care for children toward animals.

 

Francis’ speeches on dogs and children

Already in 2014, a year after his election, Francis thundered against the culture of well-being that convinced us it is better not to have children, and “perhaps it is better – more convenient – to have a little dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the little dog. And in the end this marriage reaches old age in solitude”.

Two years later, in 2016, he transformed the concept of lacking compassion toward those in need: “Sometimes one feels this sentiment toward animals”, he said during an audience, “and remains indifferent to the suffering of our brothers. How many times do we see people so attached to cats and dogs, and then they leave without helping the neighbor who needs it…this is not right”.

The most well-known intervention was the one delivered in 2023 at the General States of Birth, in the presence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Introducing his reflection, Francis recalled an episode involving his secretary, who approached to bless a child in a stroller, only to realize there was a little dog inside.

The same, said Bergoglio, happened to him during an Audience:

“I arrived in front of a lady, around fifty years old; I greeted her and she opened a bag and said: ‘Bless my child’: a little dog! There I had no patience and scolded the lady: ‘Ma’am, many children are hungry, and you with the little dog!’ Brothers and sisters, these are scenes of the present, but if things continue this way, this will be the habit of the future, we must be careful”.

A few months later he reiterated: “It seems that families prefer to have little dogs or cats and not children: this is the ‘veterinary culture.’ We must be careful about this. Is this the legacy we leave?”.

Finally, in 2024, Pope Francis specifically admonished Italy: “I see that there are some children there: this is beautiful, in a culture where having little dogs or cats and not children is favored. We must give Italy a little push!”.

 

Love for animals and the value of human life: balance

In the Pope’s words, there was absolutely no sterile condemnation of dogs and animals, as some claimed (his predecessor also owned a beautiful cat, by the way).

Bergoglio never said that this disproportion of affection is always present; there are many families with children and pets.

Francis’ invitation was to appreciate the unique value of human life, have a priority of values, and recognize the ontological difference with animals. They must be loved and respected, but also distinguished from the hope of rebirth that the presence of a child brings.

 

After so many criticisms in the media when Francis issued these warnings, today the Financial Times agrees with him.

The lesson remains the same: replacing a child’s life with affection for animals risks reflecting an emotional and social imbalance that we cannot ignore and cannot afford.