Address of Pope Leo XIV To Members of the Demography Intergroup of the European Parliament

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you.

Good morning everyone and welcome!

I am pleased to welcome the Members of the European Parliament’s Demography Intergroup, together with the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, the Italian Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities, and the OSCE Special Representative on Demographic Change and Security, on the occasion of your Conference on the family and demographics.

As representatives of your respective peoples, reflecting a plurality of political opinion within the Member States of the European Union, your focus on the Continent’s demographic question is certainly timely, for this issue signifies an urgent challenge with practical implications for millions of people and their families across “what is becoming the ‘old continent’ — no longer because of its glorious history, but because of its advancing age,” as Pope Francis often emphasized (Address to the General States of Birth Assembly, 14 May 2021). The problems resulting from zero-growth demographics are many and complex, and include, not least, the pandemic of loneliness. Moreover, demographic data are not merely statistics, but speak of fatherhood, motherhood and children. And children are the future! Yet, speaking of the future points to an integral and sustainable development, which is seriously impeded without solidarity between generations (cf. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 195). Sadly, such solidarity requires an intergenerational balance that is currently lacking in Europe.

Furthermore, over recent decades, we can see that a rejection of the Christian inspiration of the founding fathers of the EU institutions has led to a time of drastic sterility, not only because too many have been deprived of the right to be born, but also because there has been a failure to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future (cf. Pope Francis, cis, Address to Participants in the Dialogue “(Re)Thinking Europe: A Christian contribution to the future of the European Project”, 28 October 2017). As a result, we are not infrequently faced with the contradictory claims of purportedly family-friendly policies, which simultaneously promote discrimination against motherhood, exalt abortion as a right, and undermine the very foundation of the desire to start a family. Happily, there are wonderful exceptions with us today!

All of these issues, therefore, urgently need to be studied and addressed in a coordinated way by a wide range of academic, political and societal agencies. The demographic challenge stands as a crucial juncture for the anthropological, social and economic future of Europe. Indeed, your involvement, with its cross-party membership, can play a vital role, and is an ideal forum for exploring ways to generate innovative ideas, which Europe and the world so desperately need. Such dialogue must include not only the various European institutions and Governments, but also the full cross-section of civil society, of which Christians are an integral part.

Read the full address on the Vatican's official website.