Organon poised to make a come back as a company name

DutchNews, March 12, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The corporate name Organon is being brought back to life in the Netherlands, with the decision by brand owner MSD to name its women’s health spin-off Organon & Co. 

In addition, MSD may split into two independent companies in the Netherlands – MSD and Organon & Co. This, the parent company says, would allow them to ‘react even more quickly’ to specific patient needs and developments in the market after the spinoff. 

The name Organon, a pharmaceuticals company based in Oss, dates back to 1923 and disappeared as a company name in 2007 when it was taken over by Schering Plough. In 2009, Schering Plough merged with Merck to form MSD. Organon’s best known product is the contraceptive pill, which still carries its name today. 

‘Organon remains a strong brand and a brand that many people know,’ said Ben Lucas, managing director of MSD in Nederland. ‘We are really pleased that we may be able to use the name again. It is a brand that belongs in the Netherlands and in Oss.’ 

The new look Organon will have a workforce of up to 1,000 people,and some 1,200 to 1,500 of Dutch MSD staff will be transferred to the new company. MSD also has locations in Haarlem, Boxmeer and De Bilt. 

The new name will be used once the spin-off is completed in the first half of next year.

Dutch initiative brings in €181m for family planning campaign

DutchNews, March 2, 2017

Dutch aid minister Lilianne Ploumen speaks at the launch. Photo: Belga Photo
Nicolas Baterlinck via HH

So far €181m has been donated to the She Decides campaign, launched by Dutch aid minister Lilianne Ploumen to boost access to contraception and abortion in developing countries. 

The aim of the project is to mitigate the effect of US president Donald Trump’s  decision to withdraw $535m in funding for groups that assist with or advocate abortion around the world. 

In total, 57 countries sent delegates to the project’s launch conference in Belgium on Thursday, which was organised by the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, the Dutch foreign ministry said. 

Finland and Sweden have both donated €10m, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway a further €10m each. The Bill Gates Foundation has pumped €20m into the fund, but the biggest private donation came from an anonymous donor who handed over €50m. 

Support

‘Last year alone Dutch support for women’s organisations helped to prevent an estimated six million unwanted pregnancies and half a million abortions,’ Ploumen said at the launch of the initiative in February. ‘The decision by the United States threatens to undermine these results. We mustn’t let that happen.’ 

One of the organisations affected, Marie Stopes International, has predicted that Trump’s move will result in 6.5 million unwanted pregnancies, 2.2 million unsafe abortions and the deaths of 21,700 young mothers in the next four years. 

The conference saw the launch of a Group of Friends initiative to give leadership to the organisation. 

‘The Brussels conference is … a signal to the world that women and girls have the right to decide themselves whether or not to become pregnant, with whom and how many children they want,’ Ploumen said.

Minister #Ploumen: 'We need a Group of Friends to catalyse #SheDecides, strategize, plan, monitor and share information' pic.twitter.com/mNwn9L9Zml

— Netherlands 🇳🇱 MFA (@DutchMFA) March 2, 2017

Related Article:

13 countries sign up to support Dutch safe abortion initiative

13 countries sign up to support Dutch safe abortion initiative

DutchNews, February 4, 2017

So far 13 countries, including Canada, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium and Sweden have signed up to support the Dutch safe abortion fund being set up to mitigate the effect of US president Donald Trump’s so-called ‘Global Gag Rule’ Dutch media reported. 

Dutch aid minister Lilianne Ploumen told television chat show De Wereld Draait Door on Friday support for the initiative has come from around the globe. 

The Netherlands put €10m into the fund which she set up after being ‘deeply disappointed’ in Trump’s decision to withdraw $535m in funding for groups that assist with or advocate abortion around the world. 

An international conference on the topic is being held in Belgium on March 2, during which the supporting countries, and a number of other organisations, will announce how much money they have agreed to pump in, Ploumen said. 

Private individuals have already donated more than €140,000 to support the initiative, which has been named She Decides and has a target of €600m. There is also talk of a massive concert to raise funds. 

‘Last year alone Dutch support for women’s organisations helped to prevent an estimated six million unwanted pregnancies and half a million abortions,’ Ploumen said at the launch of the initiative. ‘The decision by the United States threatens to undermine these results. We mustn’t let that happen.’ 

One of the organisations affected, Marie Stopes International, has predicted that Trump’s move will result in 6.5 million unwanted pregnancies, 2.2 million unsafe abortions and the deaths of 21,700 young mothers in the next four years.

Interview met minister #Ploumen eerder vanavond over #SheDecides in #DWDD, kijk hier: https://t.co/ZflK5Dxw3P pic.twitter.com/zaQOTGfRw5

— Ministerie van BZ (@MinBZ) February 3, 2017

Related Articles: 

Canada may contribute to Dutch-led international abortion fund
"It's not only about abortion - it's about women's rights"
Ploumen plans international safe abortion fund to offset Trump ban

US rejects pharmacists' religious rights appeal over contraceptives

The US Supreme Court has said it won't hear an appeal from Washington state pharmacists with religious objections to dispensing emergency contraceptives. It leaves in place rules first adopted nearly a decade ago.

Deutsche Welle, 29 June 2016

Tuesday's ruling leaves in place regulations adopted in 2007, following reports several women were denied access to emergency contraceptives. The rules stipulate that pharmacies must fill lawful prescriptions, but individual pharmacists with moral objections can refer patients to another pharmacist in the same store.

The case

Stormans - owners of Ralph's Thriftway in Olympia, a Washington state grocery store and pharmacy, sued, as did two pharmacists who said the rules required them to breach their religious beliefs.

"The state needs to not make a value judgment that a religiously-motivated referral is not permissible when other referrals are," Kristen Waggoner, the lead attorney for Stormans in the case said. She added that another lawsuit could happen if the state doesn't enforce the rules "in an even-handed manner."

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson praised the high court's decision to not hear the case.

"Patients should know that when they need medication, they won't be refused based on the personal views of a particular pharmacy owner," Ferguson added. "The appeals court ruling upheld today protects that principle."

Splits in the high court

Meanwhile, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have heard the appeal. Alito wrote a 15-page dissent for the three dissenting justices: "If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern."

Plan B

Sold as Plan B, emergency contraception is a high dose of the drug found in many regular birth-control pills. It can lower the risk of pregnancy by as much as 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

jbh/jr (AP, Voice of America)

Related Articles:

Supreme Court delivers major victory for US abortion rights

Dutch health minister presses on with abortion pill plans, despite Christian opposition

Pope Francis on Zika: abortion a crime, contraception a lesser evil

Yahoo – AFP, 18 February 2016

A pregnant woman holds a mosquito net in Cali on February 10, 2016 after the 

Colombian Health Ministry began delivering mosquito nets free to prevent 

infection by Zika virus (AFP Photo/Luis Robayo)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis insisted Thursday that abortion was always a crime but hinted that the Church could exceptionally relax its ban on contraception for women at risk of contracting the Zika virus.

"Abortion is not a lesser evil. It is a crime," Francis said in response to a question about how best to combat the outbreak across Latin America of a virus linked to birth defects.

But he added: "Avoiding a pregnancy is not an absolute evil."

Pope Francis speaks to journalists aboard

 the flight from Mexico to Italy, on February

18, 2016 (AFP Photo/Alessandro Di Meo)

The 79-year-old pontiff recalled that one of his predecessors, Paul VI (1963-1978) had authorised nuns working in Africa to use contraceptives in light of a high risk of them being raped by soldiers.

"We must not confuse the evil consisting of avoiding a pregnancy with abortion," Francis said. "Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem, medical. One person is killed to save another. It is evil in itself, it is not a religious evil, it is a human evil.

"On the contrary, avoiding a pregnancy and, in the cases of Paul VI which I have cited, it was clear.

"I would also urge doctors to do everything they can to develop a vaccine."

The United Nations and aid organisations have urged countries hit by the virus to ensure women have access to contraception to reduce the risk of infection and the right to abortion should they decide to terminate a pregnancy.

Many Latin American countries outlaw abortion or allow it only if the mother's life is in danger.

After initially saying little about the outbreak, Catholic leaders in the region have recently begun to assert the Church's opposition to what it terms "artificial" birth control and abortion.

Instead of using condoms or the contraceptive pill, Church officials have been recommending abstinence or what they term natural family planning -- scheduling sexual relations for the least fertile periods of a woman's menstrual cycle.

Francis was also questioned about the recent revelation that another of his predecessors, John-Paul II, had an "intense" 30-year friendship with a married woman.

The current pope said he had been aware of his Polish predecessor's friendship with philosopher and writer Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka.

"A man lacks something if he does not know how to have a good rapport with a woman," he said, adding for good measure that, "sexists are sick".

Every priest should seek out the feelings of women on different subjects, he said.

"I like to receive advice from women. A friendship with a woman is not a sin - a love affair, on the contrary, is."

Although he has given no indication of a change in current Church teaching on the question, Francis has said that the requirement of celibacy for Catholic priests is not set in stone and could be reviewed.

Related Articles:

Pope: Condom issue is 'morally complicated'

Pope says Catholics do not need to breed 'like rabbits'

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

Germany reports highest fertility rate since reunification

Figures released from Germany's Statistics Office indicate the fertility rate is at a post-reunification high. In 2014, a fertility rate of 1.47 children per woman in Germany was recorded.

Deutsche Welle, 16 December 2015

The German Federal Statistics Office on Wednesday reported a rise in Germany's fertility rate in 2014. Last year, the total fertility rate in Germany was 1.47 children per woman. In 2013, the figure was 1.42. In real terms, this amounts to 56 more babies born per 1,000 women than the year before.

In a statement on its website, the Statistics Office said the 2014 figure is "the highest value measured since German reunification." However, in global comparisons, Germany's fertility rate is among the lowest in the world.

The figures show that non-German women living in Germany have a higher fertility rate (1.86 children per woman) than German citizens (1.42), but both categories saw an increase compared to last year. Women in German states that were formerly East Germany had a slightly higher fertility rate than women in western German states.

The average age of child-bearing woman also rose last year. In 2014, the average mother of a first-born child was 29.5 years old, two months older than the previous period.

Germany is home to more people than any other EU country, with the population exceeding 80 million. However, the authorities worry that the aging population could eventually make the social system in the country unstable.

The birth rate still lags behind the death rate, as it has consistently since 1972.

Related Articles:

Pope: Condom issue is 'morally complicated'

Pope says Catholics do not need to breed 'like rabbits'

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

Pope: Condom issue is 'morally complicated'

Pope Francis has dismissed a question about condoning condoms in the fight against AIDS, saying that the world is facing bigger issues. The pope left Africa after visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Deutsche Welle, 30 Nov 2015

The Roman pontiff admitted that condom use is "one of the methods" which could prevent the spread of HIV, while talking to journalists aboard the papal plane on Monday.

Francis was flying back to Rome after a five-day tour in Africa, when a reporter asked him if the Catholic Church should allow the use of condoms to combat the spread of AIDS.

The head of the Catholic Church did not provide a definite answer on the "morally complicated" issue, criticizing the question instead.

"I don't like getting into questions or reflections that are so technical when people are dying because they don't have water or food or housing," he told the German reporter, according to the AP news agency.

"The problem is bigger than that," he added.

Pope Francis also pointed to slave labor, environmental exploitation and arms trafficking as some of the more significant problems facing humanity.

Questions like condoms and AIDS can be addressed when the other issues he mentioned are resolved, according to the pontiff.

Abstinence against AIDS

The topic of AIDS and HIV has taken a back seat during the pope's visit to the three African countries.

However, the Vatican chief took the time to visit the HIV-infected children at a Uganda hospital, and thank the church's health care workers for looking after the infected.

AIDS is the number one cause of death among adolescents in Africa.

Francis' predecessor Benedict XVI sparked international criticism during his 2009 Africa visit by saying that condoms could make the AIDS situation worse.

The previous pope later admitted that using condoms was justified in some cases, but insisted they were not a "moral solution."

The Church discourages Catholic believers from using artificial birth control methods. Instead, the Vatican recommends abstinence as a way to stop AIDS.

dj/gsw (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Related Articles:

Pope says Catholics do not need to breed 'like rabbits'

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

Abortions in Germany decline over last decade

The number of German women terminating a pregnancy has been falling over the last 10 years. The figures come days before the morning after pill becomes available over the counter without prescription.

Deutsche Welle, 10 March 2015

According to the German National Statistics bureau, in 2014, around 99,700 abortions occurred Germany - some 3 percent less than the previous year, and the lowest figure since the revision of the abortion law in 1996. A decade ago, some 129,650 pregnancy terminations were registered.

According to the latest figures, abortion rate also dropped significantly. In 2004, it stood 66 abortions among every 10,000 women. In 2013, this fell to 57 and, according to preliminary figures, this figure decreased again in 2014 to 55.

Financial dilemma

Regine Wlassitschau, spokeswoman for the sexual advice organization Pro Familia, believes that a combination of sex education and comprehensive counseling services have played a part in the decline.

Many women and couples on low incomes are still struggling to afford contraceptives, however.

"This is a growing problem," Wlassitschau said. Pro Familia is pushing for women on low incomes - such as those on state benefits - to have the cost of their contraception funded.

Over-the-counter emergency pill

The latest figures from Germany's statistics bureau also showed that almost three quarters of the women who terminated a pregnancy in 2014 were between 18 and 34 years old. About eight percent were at least 40 years old, and almost 4 percent were under the age of 18.

Whether the abortion numbers will continue to decline, when the morning after pill becomes available without prescription in Germany on March 15, remains to be seen.

Ninety-six percent of the abortions recorded in 2014 were carried out according to standard protocol with required counseling. The remaining four percent were carried out in cases in which there was danger to the mother's life or which were the result of criminal acts such as abuse or rape.

ksb, jr (dpa, KNA, EPD)

Carl Djerassi, developer of birth control pill, dies at 91

American chemist Carl Djerassi, one of the main developers of the birth control pill, has died at the age of 91 in San Francisco. He synthesized a female hormone that became the basis for oral contraceptives.

Deutsche Welle, 31 Jan 2015

The chemist Carl Djerassi was known for synthesizing progesterone, a female hormone in 1951 that is involved in the menstrual cycle and pregnancy, a development that formed the basis for oral contraceptives for women.

On the basis of this scientific achievement, he helped develop the birth control pill in cooperation with the Boston pharmacologists Gregory Pincus and John Rock.

Djerassi also contributed to synthesizing the steroid hormone cortisone, paving the way for new kinds of medical treatment for various diseases.

Carl Djerassi was born in Vienna in 1923. He was the son of a Jewish Austrian-Bulgarian couple, both doctors. Because of his Jewish origin he was forced to flee Austria when it was annexed by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Djerassi left for Bulgaria and then moved to the US, where he became an internationally renowned scientist and eventually professor emeritus at Stanford University.

Later in life, he also published poems, short stories, novels and plays. His first play, "An Immaculate Misconception" (1998), was translated into 12 languages and staged in the UK, the US, Germany, Austria, Japan and other countries.

As a famous art collector, Djerassi owned one of the most impressive collections of paintings by Paul Klee and gave about half of them to the Albertina museum in Vienna.

He died in San Francisco on Friday at the age of 91, according to a museum spokeswoman.

das/cmk (dpa, AFP)

Pope says Catholics do not need to breed 'like rabbits'

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 20 Jan 2015

Pope Francis speaks to journalist onboard a plane during his trip back to

Rome on January 19, 2015 (AFP Photo/Giuseppe Cacace)

Rome (AFP) - Pope Francis has said that good Catholics do not have to breed "like rabbits", defending the Church's stance on artificial contraception and appealing to the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics to practise responsible parenting.

Speaking to journalists on his flight back from the Philippines, the pope said that he once asked a mother of seven children who was pregnant with her eighth if she wanted to "leave behind seven young orphans".

"She said, 'I trust in God.' But God gave us the means to be responsible," the pope said. "Some think, and excuse the term, that to be good Catholics, they must be like rabbits."

Pope Francis takes part in a mass at a

 park in Manila on January 18, 2015

(AFP Photo/Osservatore Romano)

Francis said creating new life was "part of the sacrament of marriage" and in Manila strongly defended his predecessor Paul VI's outlawing of artificial contraception for Catholics in 1968.

Following the church's teachings did not mean "Christians should have children one after the other", he said.

His comments came at the end of a trip to the Philippines, the Catholic Church's Asian stronghold, which last year passed a family planning law after a 15-year battle by the Church to block state-sanctioned contraception.

The law allows the government to begin distributing free contraceptives to millions of poor Filipinos.

It was a rare loss for the Church, which has for centuries been one of the nation's most powerful institutions and continues to count more than 80 percent of the nation's 100 million people as Catholics.

'Responsible parenthood'

The pope said that his predecessor had foreseen the rise in policies restricting childbirth.

"Paul VI was worried by the growth of neo-Malthusianism" (which advocates restricting the number of children the poor can have) which tried to "put a control on humanity... he was a prophet," he said.

"The key teaching of the Church is responsible parenthood. And how do we get that? By dialogue. There are marriage groups in the Church, experts and pastors," he added.

In 2013, six months after becoming pope, Francis urged the Church to drop its "obsession" with contraception, divorce, gays and abortion, in an interview signalling a dramatic shift in the Vatican's tone.

Pope Francis greets the crowd after

celebrating mass at a park in Manila on

January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

The Argentine pope has brought a series of fresh perspectives to the notoriously rigid Church since he took over, signalling a strong reformist drive.

He stressed at the time that the Church's official position had not changed, but said that it should "always keep in mind the individual".

Francis' papacy -- he is the first Jesuit pope and the first from South America -- has marked a series of breaks with Vatican tradition.

The pope has become known for his humility and concern for the poor, and has reached out to non-believers and those in other religions. He regularly picks up the phone to call ordinary people who write to him.

His latest comments are not the first this month to attract attention for their candour.

Last week when discussing the deadly attack by Islamist gunmen angered by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed, the pope said: "If a good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched."

Related Articles:

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Singapore Population Growth Hits 10-Year Low

Fewer parents in China want a second child than expected
German birth rate hits new low

Dutch Birth rate drops again, economic crisis gets the blame
Seven billion people and climbing, but not everywhere

Dutch centenarians double in 14 years to 2,200

Japan’s Centenarian Population Swells to Record, at Almost 59,000


"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”