Pope Leo XIV is calling on Europe to rediscover the importance of faith, family, and human dignity as the continent faces declining birth rates, loneliness, and what he described as a growing rejection of Christian values.
Speaking May 25 during an audience with members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Demography, the Holy Father warned that Europe’s demographic crisis is not simply economic or political, but deeply spiritual and cultural in nature.
According to EWTN News, Pope Leo XIV said Europe has entered “a time of drastic sterility,” blaming in part “a rejection of the Christian inspiration of the founding fathers of the EU institutions.”
The pope said this crisis extends beyond falling birth rates. He lamented that “too many have been deprived of the right to be born,” while society has also failed to provide younger generations with “the material and cultural tools” needed to face the future.
Pope Leo sharply criticized modern policies that claim to support families while simultaneously promoting abortion and weakening motherhood.
“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,” he warned, according to EWTN News.
The Holy Father addressed the growing demographic collapse across Europe, where birth rates have steadily declined for more than two decades. Recent data from Eurostat showed that every European Union nation has experienced falling birth rates since 2004. The EU birth rate stood at 7.9 live births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2024, while the median age across Europe rose to 44.9 years in 2025.
Pope Leo stressed that demographic statistics represent real human lives and families.
“Demographic data are not merely statistics but speak of fatherhood, motherhood, and children. And children are the future!” he said.
The pope also warned about what he called a “pandemic of loneliness,” particularly affecting aging populations throughout Europe. He emphasized the importance of solidarity between generations and called it essential for “integral and sustainable development.”
Central to the pope’s message was the Church’s teaching on the family. He reaffirmed that the family is “the first and irreplaceable school of social life” and said it is founded upon marriage between a man and a woman.
According to the Holy Father, societies can avoid both excessive government control and destructive individualism only by restoring the family to its proper place in public life.
“Only by respecting and promoting this central place of the family, and applying the principle of subsidiarity, is it possible to avoid the two extremes of excessive state intervention and individualism,” he said.
Pope Leo encouraged lawmakers and public leaders to work alongside families and civil society when crafting policies that affect future generations. He insisted that authentic solutions to Europe’s demographic crisis must always uphold the dignity of the human person.
The pontiff concluded his address with a hopeful call for renewal, saying: “Only a fresh springtide for the family can transform the winter chill of our aging populations!”
The Vatican meeting took place during the Conference on the Family and Demography in Rome and included several European officials and policy leaders focused on demographic change and family issues.
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