Pope at odds with his own sex abuse commission on whether it is OK for parents to smack their children

Pope Francis told crowd it’s fine to smack a naughty child
Acted out smacking a child on the bottom to prove his point
Follows apology for saying Catholics shouldn’t ‘breed like rabbits’

Members of Pope Francis’ sex abuse commission have sharply criticised his remarks that it is fine for parents to smack their children as punishment for misbehaving.

Earlier this week, the Pope said parents should punish their children, ‘do the right thing, and then move on,’ as he acted out the movement of smacking a child on the bottom. The commission said there is no place for physical discipline and that it would be making recommendations to the pope about protecting children from corporal punishment.

The pontiff made the remarks in front of a large crowd during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday. Addressing the crowd, Pope Francis recalled a conversation he had had with a father who had admitted to him that he would sometimes hit his children as punishment. ‘One time, I heard a father say, “At times I have to hit my children a bit, but never in the face so as not to humiliate them”,’ the Pope said according to the Telegraph.

‘That’s beautiful! He had a sense of dignity. He should punish, do the right thing, and then move on.’ (?!!)

Commission member Peter Saunders, who was sexually abused by a priest as a teen, said the committee would recommend that the pope revise his remarks, given that ‘millions of children around the world are physically beaten every day’.

‘It might start off as a light tap, but actually the whole idea about hitting children is about inflicting pain,’ Mr Saunders told a press conference. ‘That’s what it’s about and there is no place in this day and age for having physical punishment, for inflicting pain, in terms of how you discipline your children.’ Another commission member, Dr Krysten Winter-Green, a New Zealand native now working in the US with abused young people, said there was no type of corporal punishment for children that was acceptable. ‘There has to be positive parenting, in a different way,’ she said. The commission met with its full 17 members for the first time this week and announced progress today on drafting policies for holding bishops accountable when they cover up for paedophile priests. It will also be organizing educational seminars for Vatican officials and bishops on protecting children from predators.

This week, Pope Francis sent a letter to all leaders of the Catholic clergy, reminding them to cooperate with the new sex abuse inquiry – even if it means uncovering more scandals.

Pope says Catholics do not have to ‘Breed like Rabbits’

In a strongly-worded letter to the heads of national bishops’ conferences and religious orders, the pope demanded ‘close and complete’ cooperation with a new child protection watchdog he has established at the Vatican. ‘Families need to know that the Church is making every effort to protect their children,’ he said. ‘Consequently, priority must not be given to any other kind of concern, whatever its nature, such as the desire to avoid scandal, since there is absolutely no place in ministry for those who abuse minors.’ The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has been given a brief to drive reform on an issue that has severely damaged the Church’s authority and reputation around the world. On Tuesday, the Pope had to apologize for offending large Catholic families by saying that there was no need to breed ‘like rabbits’. The Pope caused dismay among larger families last month when he cautioned ‘responsible parenthood’ advising that three children was ‘about right’. Speaking during a press conference on a flight back from the Philippines, he said that ‘Some think that in order to be good Catholics we have to be like rabbits. No. Responsible parenthood.’

Vatican Archbishop Giovanni Becciu apologized on Pope Francis’ behalf by saying ‘the Pope is truly sorry’ that his remarks about large families ’caused such disorientation’. Archbishop Becciu told the Italian bishop’s newspaper Avvenire that the pope ‘absolutely did not want to disregard the beauty and the value of large families.’