Pope praises Indonesians for choosing children over cats

Pope Francis with the young people of Scholas Occurrentes at Graha Pemuda Youth Centre in Jakarta, on Sept 4. - Photo: Reuters

JAKARTA: Pope Francis praised Indonesians on Wednesday (Sept 4) for their large families and suggested that people in other countries are choosing to have pets rather than bring up children.

The 87-year-old Pontiff was speaking alongside Indonesia's President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on the first stop on a four-country trip to Asia.