+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
2 Aug 2009
Some young adults today are afraid of having children, uncertain of the benefits or uncertain of their capacity to cope as parents.
Many reasons are proposed for this, but underneath lies a lack of confidence in the goodness of life, a lack of hope. The baby boom after the Second World War, when fifty million people were killed, was an unexpected explosion of hope. I remember being in Cambodia not long after Pol Pot was defeated and there were youngsters everywhere.
The widening of educational opportunity for women as well as men is a blessing and most young women today hope for a career or at least useful employment as well as marriage and children. But this is always hard work and every woman has to give priority to one option or the other at different times.
Not much can be said to those (mercifully few) who don't want children for purely selfish reasons, such as cost or limits to their life style; except to ask them to think again.
But young adults have often suffered the effects of their parents' divorce, or seen such damage in their extended family and don't want to inflict this on their own children.
Sometimes they doubt their own capacity to be good parents, to cope with the lifelong demands of their children as they grow up. In most cases, the awareness of such a possible problem is evidence that they would be able to manage, even if special help and regular prayer were needed.
In August last year at St. Mary's Cathedral we announced a special Sunday Mass and blessing afterwards for pregnant mothers. We publicized the Mass, but did not receive much feedback, fearing that only a few mums-to-be would turn up. In fact I individually blessed about 120 mothers.
A similar Mass and blessing for expectant mothers will be celebrated next Sunday at 10.30am at St. Mary's.
Every mother will be welcome because every pregnant woman and her baby deserve to be honoured and loved.
Our society is changing so quickly and we are subjected to so many cranky influences, that no basic truths or values can be taken for granted. We have to work to protect them.
All Christians should follow Pope Benedict's advice and work to "build a climate of joy and confidence in life, a climate in which children are seen not as a burden, but rather as a gift for all".
