Pope John Paul II's Visits to Latin America Boosted Fertility Rates

Could the pope help reverse the birth dearth?

Note: Ironically, the timing of this story with the death of Pope Francis and subsequent election of Pope Leo was not planned…we began working on it before Pope Francis died.

New research suggests an unconventional antidote could help slow the world’s plummeting birth rates: visits from the pope. Between 1979 and 1996, the late Pope John Paul II made trips to more than a dozen countries across Latin America. The public events were attended by millions of people and left a significant imprint on those present.

A recent working paper from three economists shows the visits had a positive long-term impact on fertility rates in those countries. Specifically, for all but one of the 16 trips studied, the pope’s appearance had a statistically significant positive effect on fertility rates in the 2-5 years after the visit (there was not a noticeable effect in the first year following the visit).

John Paul II in Peru, 1985. Nicknamed the globe-trotter pope, John Paul II visited over 100 countries …