The number of births in Italy has fallen to a 160-year low, and the average number of children per Italian woman has plunged to 1.17.
“I have a concern, a real concern, at least here in Italy: the demographic winter,” Pope Francis said on December 26, following his Angelus address. “It seems that many couples prefer not to have children or to have only one child. Think about this. It is a tragedy. . . . Let us do everything possible to regain an awareness to overcome this demographic winter that goes against our families, about our country, even against our future.”