Neither did I. Nor am I criminally insane.

But according to Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, population growth, rather than population control, can help societies overcome poverty. Archbishop Migliore made his remarks on February 8 at a meeting of the Commission for Social Development of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

This is what happens within the Catholic Church when one is divorced from reality and rewarded for delusional thinking.I think the archbishop is actually serious and honestly represents the Vatican on this.

Uncontrolled population growth has consequences that are dire. The state of a general poverty level is actually moot when the most pressing concern becomes basic survival. Some simple math will reveal the most glaring problem: population sustainability.

Assuming that the world’s population under the wise guidance of the men from Rome doubles according to reasonable parameters – let’s err on the side of caution and assume a doubling every 14 years (compared with various higher estimates here) – how long will it take until the population outstrips the earth’s ability to sustain all of us with the necessities of food and fresh water and brings about a population collapse? (By the way, the term ‘population collapse’ is a really nice way of saying mass death through starvation.)

I wonder what Archbishop Celestino Migliore’s estimation would be if most people actually followed this advice? Would it take a score of years to reach a tipping point of 9 billion? Half a century to reach 15 billion people? Might that be enough to overwhelm nature’s bounty? A century to reach 100 billion? Regardless of the actual number, it is there. It is real. At what point does uncontrolled population growth reach a tipping point and bring about immeasurable suffering and death? And the Archbishop is fine with this notion (probably having never thought about it)… as long as people don’t interfere in any way with having babies as most of us in the developed world do now. God, the catholic church assures us, wants us to bring about a population crash with mass suffering and widespread death of billions. Honest. It’s just phrased with nicer sounding words using the idea of ‘fighting poverty’ as the reason. I have no doubt that behind the suggestion that poverty can be beaten by uncontrolled population growth, any natural consequences easily foreseen by anyone with even a modicum of sense will be solved by the intervention of god. Nothing else will mitigate such a predictable disaster championed by the Vatican. And we’re supposed to sit idly by, keep quiet, and show respect to this organization?

I don’t think so.

This delusion must end by facing up to one of two possibilities:

So you tell me, dear Reader, is catholic doctrine of uncontrolled population growth insane or merely criminally irresponsible?