Raven said the pontiffs all realised, as he does, that "We need at some point to have a limited number of people,".

Raven was speaking in his role as a panelist at Vatican-run discussion on "how to save the natural world" as part of its Biological Extinction workshop last Thursday.

He stressed that he and his fellow panelists do not endorse "any of the artificial birth control [methods] that the Church does not endorse,".

"In the framework of social justice worldwide we need to find ways for natural resources to be distributed on the basis of compassion and love," he continued. "We hope for support in our ongoing support for our endeavor to develop sustainability."

The other panelists were the President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS), Werner Arber; the University of Cambridge Professor Emeritus of Economics Partha Dasgupta; and PAS chancellor Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo.

Dasgupta is the co-author of a paper presented by pro-abortion population control advocate Dr. Paul Ehrlich.

At the event Ehrlich and Dasgupta, said the Catholic teaching of "responsible parenthood" in determining family size has "result[ed] in collective failure" in reducing the world's population.

Source

• Lifesite News
• Fox News
• Image: YouTube

Paul Ehrlich said Pope Francis is simply wrong in trying to fight climate change without also addressing the strain on global resources from population rise.

"That's raving nonsense," the scientist said.

Ehrlich wrote on the subject in the journal Nature Climate Change.

His was a rare dissent in a special feature of commentary from scientists about Francis's encyclical Laudato Si'.

He told The Guardian that the Pope is right on some things, "but he is just dead wrong on that".

"It is crystal clear. No one concerned with the state of the planet and the state of the global economy can avoid dealing with population.

"It is the elephant in the room," he said.

In Laudato Si', the idea of population growth as a strain on global resources is explicitly rejected.

"Demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development," the Pope wrote.

"To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues."

Ehrlich, in his Nature Climate Change commentary, said Francis had fallen for the usual clerical "obsession" with contraception and abortion.

This is when he could have instead broken new ground on the Catholic Church's approaches to women's reproductive rights and family planning.

Ehrlich became a household name in the US nearly 50 years ago for warning of a global catastrophe because of population growth - a scenario he later conceded did not entirely materialise.

Sources

• The Guardian
• Image: Stanford News

The latest data on world population from the U.N. Population Division reveals a number of trends that seem to indicate otherwise.

The following is PRI's brief overview of some of the findings from the recently released 2015 Revision of the World Population Prospects.

According to the U.N. Population Division, world population is estimated to be 7.3 billion today. That number is expected to rise to 9.7 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100.

In the past two and a half decades, world population has increased by 2 billion people.

Yet despite the rapid rise in world population, the percentage of people living with hunger in developing countries has actually dropped from 24% to 14% over the same time period.

Welcoming another 4 billion to the human family does not appear to necessitate a demographic catastrophe.

In fact, the future appears to be quite bright for future generations, especially in poorer and less developed nations. Infant and childhood mortality are set to decline sharply worldwide.

By 2100, the rate of deaths among children under the age of five will fall as much as 82% in less developed nations and 80% in the world's least developed countries.

Future generations will also have significantly longer lifespans to look forward to.

World average life expectancy at birth in the early 1950's was 48 years for women and 45 for men. Today those numbers are 73 for women and 68 for men.

By 2100, life expectancy at birth will have risen to almost 85 for women and 82 for men worldwide and even higher in developed nations—92 years for women.

The challenges of the 21st century, rather than stemming from overpopulation, appear to arise from falling fertility rates and larger aging cohorts with comparatively fewer from younger cohorts to support them.

By 2100, potential dependents (adults over 65 and dependents under 20) in high and upper-middle income countries will constitute half of the total population, up from about 37% today. Continue reading

Sources

• Population Research Institute article written by Jonathan Abbamonte.
• Image: Human Populations

In the open letter they recognise the value of the good relationship the Catholic Church has with Government in Papua New Guinea.

They say it is one of mutual respect and express the belief that it has the potential to bring about many good things for the people of Papua New Guinea.

The Bishops say they are actively seeking to improve collaboration with Government many other areas of integral human development.

They are encouraged by signs that Government also wishes to strengthen the cooperation, for the benefit our people everywhere, especially in the remotest areas of the country.

The letter deals psecificlly with a number of issues

• Health
• Education
• The Manus Island detention centre
• Abortion
• Population control.
• Corruption
• The exploitation of the environment and sustainable development

the Bishops end their letter with a quote from Pope Francis

"Politics, though often denigrated, remains a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity, inasmuch as it seeks the common good." "I ask God to give us more politicians capable of sincere and effective dialogue aimed at healing the deepest roots - and not simply the appearances - of evils in our world!" (Evangelii Gaudium no. 205)

Read the letter

Source

• Supplied by Fr Giorgi Licini. Catholic Report PNG
• Image: lowyinterpreter.org

Papua New Guinea's Minister for Health and HIV, Jamie Maxtone-Graham, has called for proper plans and strategies for population control to cater for the increasing population in the country. Quoting reports from a demographic health survey carried out in 2006, Maxtone-Graham said the population was experiencing substantial growth with a high fertility rate of 4.3%.

And in Port Vila unwanted pregnancies among high school students and the need to upgrade health facilities in Vanuatu were just two of the many population control related issues which dominated discussions at a two-day United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-supported retreat.

Retreat participants ended the consultation with a draft work plan for 2012 to build on the progress achieved so far in this area, which had included a tour of health centers in rural areas to inform their advocacy role both at parliamentary and grassroots level.

The role of parents, communities, traditional leaders, schools and churches in the communication of reproductive health-related information to children were also passionately discussed at the retreat.

The retreat was organised primarily for the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Policy to dialogue with their stakeholders including state agencies, civil society and traditional and faith-based leadership.

Source:

• Island Business
• Pacific Scoop
• Image: Travelpod