St. Maximos' Hut

Jennifer Roback Morse has written an interesting short piece at TownHall.com concerning her appearance at an Acton-sponsored gathering entitled "The Family and the New Economy. Among several interesting observations, the following:

The total fertility rate for the European Union is a mere 1.47 babies per woman, far below the replacement rate of 2.1 babies per woman. For some countries, such as Spain and Italy, the total fertility rate is a desperate 1.2. At this rate, the population of these countries will decline by half every generation.

I attributed the fertility decline to the cradle-to-grave European welfare state. The lethargic culture of public assistance drains the enthusiasm of the young for beginning families. And state financial support displaces the economic function of marriage, for women and men alike.

The principle speaker was Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, the President of the Pontifical Council on the Family. The Cardinal apparently came to the defense of Prof. Morse when some, who were "involved in politics in their respective countries", claimed that the analysis she had presented had "nothing to do with their countries", that "the demographic situation wasn’t nearly so dire, and, even if there were some issues, everything would be resolved by state intervention to provide family support.

Cardinal Lopez Trujillo wasn’t buying, and assured the audience that the Pontifical Council on the Family had gathered world-wide demographic data over a long period and that Prof. Morse's description was spot on. He apparently also observed that "Differences in state support for families made some difference, but not a significant difference in fertility rates."

The article is well-worth a read, and, should Acton or the church release them, I think that the proceedings of this gathering will prove most interesting.