Pope: OK to smack kids if their dignity is maintained

Pope Francis says it is OK to smack your children to discipline them — as long as their dignity is maintained.

The Pope made the remarks this week during his weekly general audience, which was devoted to the role of fathers in the family. He outlined the traits of a good father — one who forgives but is able to “correct with firmness” while not discouraging the child.

The Pope said: “One time, I heard a father in a meeting with married couples say ‘I sometimes have to smack my children a bit, but never in the face so as to not humiliate them’.

“How beautiful! He knows the sense of dignity! He has to punish them but does it justly and moves on.”

The Rev Thomas Rosica, who works with the Vatican press office, said the Pope was obviously not speaking about committing violence or cruelty against a child but rather about “helping someone to grow and mature”.

He said: “Who has not disciplined their child or been disciplined by parents when we are growing up?

“Simply watch Pope Francis when he is with children and let the images and gestures speak for themselves!

“To infer or distort anything else ... reveals a greater problem for those who don’t seem to understand a pope who has ushered in a revolution of normalcy of simple speech and plain gesture.”

The Church’s position on corporal punishment came under sharp criticism last year during a grilling by the UN human rights committee monitoring implementation of the UN treaty on the rights of the child. In its report, the committee members reminded the Holy See the treaty explicitly requires signatories to take all measures, including legislative and educational, to protect children from physical or mental violence — including while in the care of parents.

It recommended the Holy See amend its laws to specifically prohibit corporal punishment of children, including within the family, and to create ways to enforce that ban in Catholic schools and institutions.

The recommendations were prompted by reports of widespread physical abuse and use of corporal punishment in Catholic-run schools and institutions, particularly in Ireland, that committee members said had reached “endemic levels”.