On a visit to the country, Pope Francis has praised Indonesia’s birth rate, which is just above replacement level, calling public attention to the global demographics crisis.

Addressing Indonesian President Joko Widodo and civil leaders, the 87-year-old pontiff said: “Your nation has a high birth rate and please continue in this; you offer an example of this to other countries,” he said candidly, deviating from his prepared speech.

“This might make one laugh, but there are some families that seem to prefer to have a cat or dog, but this, this doesn’t work,” he added.

In May, Pope Francis repeated his particular concern for the “demographic winter” affecting Europe and other industrialized nations at the General State of the Birth Rate conference in Italy, warning politicians and business leaders that declining fertility rates will have dire consequences for the future.

While World Bank statistics show Indonesia’s birth rates have also steadily declined from 5.5 births per woman in 1960 to 2.2 births in 2022, the Asian nation is still above the 2.1 replacement level rate of fertility required for a country to maintain its population.