Addressing European Parliament members, Pope Leo XIV forcefully lamented demographic decline, warning that a lack of solidarity harms the continent’s future.
The declining birth rate across the “old continent” brings multiple consequences, including a “pandemic of loneliness,” Pope Leo XIV warned on Monday, May 25. The Pontiff addressed members of the European Parliament’s Demography Intergroup at the Vatican. Receiving an open invitation to speak before the parliament in Strasbourg, France, the Pope followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by expressing deep concern over Europe’s aging population.
Welcoming the group of around 30 lawmakers from various countries and political parties, the Pontiff described Europe’s demographic crisis as a major political, social, and spiritual emergency. Speaking in the presence of representatives from the European Commission and the Italian government, Pope Leo XIV echoed a phrase often used by Pope Francis to describe Europe as “what is becoming the ‘old continent’ — no longer because of its glorious history, but because of its advancing age.”
Although Leo XIV spoke specifically of Europe because of his audience, he could say much the same about the United States, which recorded its lowest birth rate ever in 2024: 1.6 births per woman, well below the rate of 2.1 which is necessary for replacement-level fertility. Between 2024 and 2025, only 33 states registered more births than deaths. The median age in the United States has also continued to rise; it was 35.6 in 2001, and is 39.4 in 2025. Thus, the Pontiff’s words to Europe on this issue ring equally true on the other side of the Atlantic.
The contradiction of public policies
The Pontiff directly criticized the contradictions found in European public policies. He pointed to the “contradictory claims of purportedly family-friendly policies,” which he said “simultaneously promote discrimination against motherhood” by choosing to “exalt abortion as a right.” Pope Leo XIV sternly warned that these directions “undermine the very foundation of the desire to start a family.”
The Pope emphasized that demographic figures should never be viewed as mere abstractions, since they “are not merely statistics, but speak of fatherhood, motherhood, and children.” Stressing that “children are the future,” he expressed regret that the development of European societies is currently compromised by a lack of authentic “solidarity between generations.”
He drew a direct link between the demographic decline and a gradual distancing from Europe’s Christian roots. According to the Holy Father, “a rejection of the Christian inspiration of the founding fathers of the EU institutions has led to a time of drastic sterility” that is not strictly biological. Saddened by this intellectual and spiritual uprooting, Pope Leo XIV noted that society suffers from “a failure to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future.”
The need for an anthropological shift
Faced with this reality, the Pontiff called for a coordinated, collective response mobilizing “a wide range of academic, political, and societal agencies.” He presented the demographic challenge as “a crucial juncture for the anthropological, social and economic future of Europe.”
Praising the cross-party composition of the European Parliament’s Demography Intergroup, he suggested the body serves as an “ideal forum for exploring ways to generate innovative ideas, which Europe and the world so desperately need.” He also stressed the need for a dialogue that includes not only European institutions and governments but “also the full cross-section of civil society, of which Christians are an integral part.”
Quoting Saint John Paul II and his apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, the Pope emphasized that the family is “the first and irreplaceable school of social life.” He reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s teaching that the family is “founded on marriage between a man and a woman,” while warning against “the two extremes of excessive State intervention and individualism.”
Pope Leo XIV clarified that this doctrinal reminder is not about returning to “social models of the past,” but rather providing society with “the unchanging principles that can surely guide them in answering the fundamental questions asked in every age.” He listed these core questions: “What is the meaning and value of human life; what is an authentic human society; and what kind of world do we want to hand on to future generations.”
A papal visit to Strasbourg?
“Only a fresh springtide for the family can transform the winter chill of our ageing populations,” said the second pope from the New World. Pope Leo XIV stressed that escaping Europe’s demographic crisis depends primarily on a cultural and familial renewal centered on human dignity, the birth rate, and the transmission of values between generations.
This audience could serve as another milestone toward a papal visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Pope has been officially invited by the parliament’s president, Maltese politician Roberta Metsola. Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has received several delegations from the European Parliament, including lawmakers from the European People’s Party on April 25. If he visits Strasbourg, he will follow in the footsteps of Saint John Paul II, who visited in 1988, and Pope Francis, who visited in 2014.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was invited to speak in the European Parliament on Tuesday, May 19, upon receiving the European Order of Merit. During his address, he noted that the roots of European Christian history include “the affirmation of human dignity, which is inviolable and must always be protected at every stage of life.”
