TOKYO, Japan, December 11, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic missionary priest serving in Japan has slammed the Vatican for asking the faithful how to promote an “increase” in the number of Catholic births in a survey question.
Fr. William Grimm MM, a Maryknoll priest currently serving in Tokyo, called the question an example of “breathtaking irresponsibility”.
“Are they serious? There are already seven billion people on the planet and we continue to increase. Resources are being depleted. Other species of animals as well as plants are being driven to extinction by the pressure of human numbers,” he wrote in an article titled “Time for a major re-think on birth control: The Church questionnaire is deeply flawed and, at one point, irresponsible” self-published on Monday on his own site UCANews.com.
As part of its preparation for an upcoming Synod on the Family—specifically called for by Pope Francis and set to take place next October — the Vatican sent a questionnaire to bishops around the world for them to gather feedback from the faithful on the state of the family. The gathered results are to serve the synod fathers as a guideline for discussion.
The survey questions relate to the “pastoral challenges facing the family today”. On the topic of the “openness of the married couple to life” the Vatican asks six questions, the last one being: “How can a more open attitude towards having children be fostered? How can an increase in births be promoted?”
Demographers have warned of population collapse in almost every European country, as well as in places such as Russia and China. The birthrate across Europe has sunk below the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple, with Italy, Spain, Austria, and Germany having total fertility rates of about 1.4. Fertility rates for Poland and Russia are worse at 1.32 and 1.2 respectively.
Japan, where Grimm resides, leads the world in decline in population with a fertility rate of 1.1 children per couple.
Pro-life-and-family leaders have linked population collapse to global population-control movements that for the last century have been infiltrating the corporate world and every level of government to relentlessly promote contraception, sterilization, and abortion on a massive scale.
The Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Cardinal Schönborn sounded the death knell for Christianity in Europe in a 2009 homily, soberly stating: “The time of Christianity in Europe is coming to an end.” Prior to this, Schönborn had warned that Europe is “about to die out” on account of bishops being “frightened” to teach authentic Catholic sexual morality.
Grimm, admitting to living in a country (Japan) where the “population is declining” nevertheless stated that the Church calling “for an increase in births is not just stupid, it is immoral.”
“Instead of asking how we can increase births, the Catholic Church should be a world leader in calling for responsible family planning that will ensure that all people who are born have a chance to live beyond age five and have access to the food, healthcare and education that will enable them to live with the dignity of the children of God,” he wrote.
One commentator under the article asked Grimm: “Do you believe in a human soul? Do you believe a child is more than just a resource consumer?”
Grimm ended his article by sarcastically volunteering as a Catholic priest to increase the number of births.
“But on the other hand, if people at the Vatican really think we should be increasing the number of births, perhaps one way to do so might be for them to abandon the requirement of celibacy for the clergy,” he wrote.