Pope urges Italians to have babies as a measure of hope for future

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis pressed his campaign Friday to urge Italians to have children, calling for long-term policies to help families and warning that the country’s demographic crisis was threatening the future.

“The number of births is the first indicator of the hope of a people,” Francis told an annual gathering of pro-family groups. “Without children and young people, a country loses its desire for the future.”

It was Francis’ latest appeal for Italy – and beyond that Europe – to invert what he has called the demographic winter facing many industrialized countries.

Italy’s birth rate, already one of the lowest in the world, has been falling steadily for about 15 years and reached a record low last year with 379,000 babies born.

With the Vatican’s strong backing, the right-wing government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has mounted a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033, a rate that demographers say is necessary to prevent the economy from collapsing under the weight of Italy’s aging population.

Francis called for long-term political strategies and policies to encourage couples to have children, including an end to precarious work contracts and impediments to buying homes, and viable alternatives so women don’t have to choose between motherhood and careers.

“The problem of our world is not children being born: it is selfishness, consumerism and individualism which make people sated, lonely and unhappy," Francis said.

Francis is expected to continue emphasizing his demographic call during the upcoming 2025 Holy Year, which has hope as its main theme. In the official Jubilee decree, or papal bull, that was promulgated Thursday, Francis called for a new social covenant among Christians to encourage couples to be open to having children.

Pope Francis attends an annual gathering of pro-family organisations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, Friday, May 10, 2024. The writing in the back reads "more young people more future." (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis gestures as he sits during an annual gathering of pro-family organisations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, Friday, May 10, 2024. The writing in the back reads "more young people more future." (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis presents sweet treats to children during an annual gathering of pro-family organisations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis speaks with a young girl as he arrives for an annual gathering of pro-family organisations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis attends an annual gathering of pro-family organisations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis gestures as he attends an annual gathering of pro-family organisations at the Auditorium della Conciliazione, in Rome, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 70-year-old Alaska man who was attempting to take photos of two newborn moose calves was attacked and killed by their mother, authorities said Monday.

The man killed Sunday was identified as Dale Chorman of Homer, said Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

The female moose had recently given birth to the calves in Homer.

“As they were walking through the brush looking for the moose, that’s when the cow moose attacked Dale,” McDaniel said.

The attack happened as the two were running away, he said. The second man, who has not been publicly identified, was uninjured.

That person did not witness the attack, so authorities cannot say if the moose killed Chorman by kicking or stomping him, or a combination.

Medics pronounced Chorman dead at the scene. The cow moose left the area, Alaska State Troopers said in an online post.

In 1995, a moose stomped a 71-year-old man to death when he was trying to enter a building on the campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage. Witnesses said students had been throwing snowballs and harassing the moose and its calf for hours, and the animals were agitated when the man tried to walk past them.

There are up to 200,000 moose in Alaska, a state with a human population of about 737,000.

The animals are not normally aggressive, but can become so if provoked, according to the state Department of Fish and Game’s website.

A cow moose will become very protective over young calves and will attack humans who come too close, the department says.

“Calving season for moose is the time when you definitely want to give them extra space,” McDaniel said. “Cow moose with calves are going to be some of the more aggressive moose you’re going to come in contact with.”

People should not spook the animals or get between a mother and her calves, he said.

“Those moose will become unpredictable and work to protect their calves at any cost,” McDaniel said.

The largest of the deer family, a small adult female moose can weigh up to 800 pounds (363 kilograms), while a large adult male can weigh twice that, according to Fish and Game. The animals can stand almost 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall.

Homer, Alaska, and the Homer Spit, jutting out into Kachemak Bay, is seen on June 9, 2021. Alaska State Troopers say a 70-year-old Homer man attempting to take photos of newborn moose calves was attacked and killed by the calves' mother in Homer on Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)