ROME: Pope Francis called on Friday for politicians to find solutions to reverse Italy`s declining birthrate, warning that young people faced a `Titanic effort` to start families in a precarious environment.

The 86-year-old pontiff opened the second day of a Rome conference involving politicians, business and social leaders focused on the dwindling number of babies born in Italy a figure that experts warn will lead to the impoverishment of the nation.

For the first time last year, Italy`s births fell below the threshold of400,000, at 393,000, according to Istat, the national statistics institute.

That compared to 713,499 deaths, in a population of around 58 million.

Francis, who received a standing ovation as he appeared onstage to address the conference alongside Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said that young people today `live in a social climate in which starting a family is turning into a Titanic effort`.

He cited the difficulty of trying to plan for the future amid low salaries and high rents in Italy, the eurozone`s third-largest economy, whosepopulation is ageing and where many young people struggle to find stable full-time jobs.

`We need to prepare fertile ground for a new spring to blossom and leave this demographic winter behind us,` Francis said, calling for `forward-looking policies` to avoid Italy `(degenerating) into sadness`.

`Pets were replacing children in many households`, BBC quoted him as he saying while addressing a conference.

`Reviving the birthrate means repairing the forms of social exclusion that are affectingyoungpeopleand their future,` he added.

`World without babies` `Have you ever imagined a world without babies?` was the provocative question used in publicity for the conference, organised by the Birthrate Foundation, a group with links to Catholic associations that advocate for families.

Despite the religious ties, conference speakers mostly steered clear of some of the more controversial issues related to Italy`s declining population, such as abortion, surrogacy and mass migration.Speakers concentrated primarily on solutions including welfare, more childcare and tax relief.

Still, Agriculture Minister Francesco L ollobrigida, a key figure in Meloni`s far-right Brothers of Italy party, noted on Thursday during the conference that the birthrate issue was of concern `because we want to safeguard the culture, languages of Italy`.

He denied it had anything `to do with race`, after coming under fire by the opposition last month for warning against Italy`s `ethnic replacement` by migrants.Meloni, who won the largest share of the women`s vote in September elections but does not consider herself a feminist, has made mothers and families a central part of her discourse.

In her address on Friday, she criticised what she called `the dominant culture` for making the topic of families almost taboo.

`We live in an era in which speaking about the birthrate, of maternity, of family has become even more difficult, sometimes it seems almost a revolutionary act,` said Meloni.-AFP