'Keep it up': Pope Francis praises Indonesians for having '4-5 kids over dogs, cats'

Pope Francis on Wednesday appreciated Indonesians for having bigger families, unlike some nations which prefer pets over raising children.

The 87-years old pontiff was speaking on the first leg of his four-country Asian tour. "And your country...has families with three, four or five children that keep moving forward, and this is reflected in the age levels of the country," said Francis. Indonesia's president Joko Widodo was also present during his address in Jakarta

"Keep it up, you're an example for everyone, for all the countries that maybe, and this might sound funny, (where) these families prefer to have a cat or a little dog instead of a child," he added, turning to Widodo with a chuckle.

The pope expressed similar sentiments in May during a conference in Rome that focused on the demographic crisis affecting Italy and Europe. He said that homes are becoming sad places, filled with objects but lacking children, while there is no shortage of small dogs and cats.

"Homes are filled with objects and emptied of children, becoming very sad places. There is no shortage of little dogs, cats, these are not lacking. There is a lack of children," he said on that occasion.

Indonesia's higher birth rate compared to many Western countries, but the trend has been declining in recent years.

Meanwhile, JD Vance, the running mate of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has faced criticism for past comments referring to some rival Democrats as "a bunch of childless cat ladies."