In a leader commenting on research that indicated that population increase, particularly in Africa, is likely to be much greater than once thought, the Times opined: “A sea change in attitudes from the slums of Juba to the gilded corridors of the Vatican would make possible a virtuous circle of smaller families and economic growth” (19 September 2014).David Blair’s column (10 October) and Paul Hypher’s article (Parish Practice, “Hear the cry of the Earth”) make it clear that there is unlikely to be a sea change in attitudes either in the slums of Juba or the gilded corridors of the Vatican. Population growth control in Africa, as far as the Sudanese and the Vatican are concerned, is going to be left to war, famine, and disease, eased only by emigr