Germany's rabbit breeders have reportedly taken offence to Pope Francis' statement in which he said Catholics need not breed like "rabbits" but should practice "responsible parenting" instead.
Erwin Leowsky, president of the central council of German rabbit breeders, said that only rabbits that lived in the wild are "sexually overactive" whereas those who have been domesticated have tamer reproductive habits, reported News.com.au.
Pope Francis made the above statement after returning from the Philippines, where he met former street children abandoned by parents who were unable to afford to take care of them. He however, stood firmly against artificial birth control methods by saying that life was "part of the sacrament of marriage."
Leowsky took a jibe at the pope by saying that he should allow Catholics to employ birth control methods rather than "resorting to misleading cliches about rabbits.
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