Pope Francis 'urges Catholics not have more children than you can bring up properly'

Peter Raven discusses Pope's comments as panellist at Vatican-run workshop on 'how to save the natural world'

Pope Francis speaks on the occasion of his Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia in the Clementine Hall (Getty Images)

Pope Francis urges families not to have too many children in a bid to tackle global population growth, it has been claimed.

The botanist and regular Vatican academy member Peter Raven revealed what he believed to be the Pope's teachings during a Vatican-run workshop on “how to save the natural world”

According to LifeSiteNews, Mr Raven told a press conference: "We need at some point to have a limited number of people [in the world].

"[That] is why Pope Francis and his three most recent predecessors have always argued that you should not have more children than you can bring up properly."

"In the framework of social justice worldwide we need to find ways for natural resources to be distributed on the basis of compassion and love," he added.

"We hope for support in our on-going support for our endeavour to develop sustainability."

The Catholic Church does not endorse any artificial birth control methods but Pope Francis has previously said avoiding pregnancy is not an “absolute evil”.

Update: This article was amended on 6 March 2017 after LifeSiteNews said it had reviewed a recording of Mr Raven's quotes, and updated its report accordingly