JAKARTA, Indonesia — Pope Francis waded back into a controversial debate on parenthood Wednesdayudbet, hailing Indonesia's birthrate and joking that people in other countries would rather have a pet cat or dog than their own babies.
Francis, who is widely viewed as a progressive pontiff, faced backlash in 2022 for suggesting couples who have pets instead of children are selfish and a threat to humanity.
"In your country people make three, four or five children, that's an example for every country, while some prefer to only have a cat or a little dog," he said during a speech to officials at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
"This can't go well," Francis added.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo burst out laughing, with the pope then turning to him and quipping: "It's true, isn't it?"
Francis -- who like other Catholic clergy is forbidden from having sex according to Church rules -- is in Southeast Asia's biggest economy for the first stop of a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific.
Indonesians took to social media on Wednesday to joke about the pope's comments, saying some people were choosing their wallets over human civilisation.
"Because you don't need to pay for dogs' tuition until they are in their 20s," wrote one user on X.
Others said the future of Indonesia -- which has a huge population of around 280 million -- was bleaker than the pontiff thought as it records declining birth rates.
Its birth rate has more than halved since the 1960s, according to the World Bank.
"The pope doesn't know that many people in Indonesia already practise being childfree," another X user wrote.
"In a few years, Indonesia will be like Japanudbet," they added, which saw a record low birth rate last year.