Contrasting views: priest's comments clash with Putin's call for more children
12:19 PM EST, November 30, 2023
Amidst President Vladimir Putin's request for women in Russia to bear up to eight children or more, a Russian Orthodox priest has cautioned men that maintaining a wife is challenging. He also compared the task to... owning dogs. A footage of the clergyman was shared on X platform by Anton Heraschenko, an advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Anton Heraschenko, advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, circulated a recording on social media showcasing a Russian Orthodox priest conversing with two reporters.
The Russian clergyman, featured in the over 20-second clip, emphatically asserted that taking care of a woman is a demanding task.
"Any man taking a vow of marriage must apprehend a critical point - maintaining a woman is pricey and strenuous. It's not everyone's cup of tea. Anyone can own a dog, but contemplating whether we want one at home requires careful thought. Getting a woman can be compared to purchasing 20 or 30 dogs," said the priest.
Heraschenko, in his post on X platform (formerly referred to as Twitter), stated that the priest's utterances contradict the Russian officials' persistence (beginning with Vladimir Putin) for widespread childbearing.
Vladimir Putin's Special Appeal to Increase Birthrate
It's pertinent to recall that the Russian president had urged women to...have more children. Ideally, he suggested they should follow their grandmothers' footsteps and aim for eight or more children.
"Fortunately, the convention of strong, multi-generational families with four, five, or even more children, is still preserved in Russia. Let's reminisce about how our grandmothers even had eight children in our Russian families. We should encourage and resurrect this beautiful tradition. Embracing a large family should be the norm and a lifestyle," Vladimir Putin remarked.
It is worth mentioning that the UN forecasts that with the current patterns persisting for the next 50 years, Russia's population could considerably dip to 120 million from its 2021 count of 146 million.
