The Depopulation of Europe

The Depopulation of Europe

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Of the social phenomena associated with what the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, call the culture of death, the first come to mind are the abortion holocaust, the increasingly wide use of euthanasia, and all too eager desire for public officials to use the death penalty where life imprisonment would just as easily do.

But one element of the culture of death that is usually left out is the extraordinary anti-life attitude of the majority of Europeans who have chosen not to have children. To be sure, this does not present the same moral atrocity as abortion or euthanasia, but there is something very curious about an entire civilization that, by and large, opts out of giving the gift of life to potential new people. As recently reported, eighteen European countries have reported more deaths than births within their borders. In fact, no Western European country has a replacement level birthrate (i.e., 2.1 children per woman). By the middle of the century, Spain will depopulate from 40 million people to 31.3 million and more than 42 percent of all Italians will be over the age of 60. What exactly is happening in Europe?

To be sure, parenthood is both a gift and an immense responsibility. But for some reason, most Europeans are so daunted by the responsibility that they refuse the gift. Of course, it is impossible to single out anyone responsibly as you can with abortionists and euthanizers. Nevertheless, if Europe does not get over its contempt for life soon, it will eventually complete the demographic suicide it has already begun.