Pope Says Spanking Kids Is Okay Within Limits
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Buda Mendes/Getty Images(VATICAN CITY) — Parents, Pope Francis has given you the green light to spank kids who get out of line.
Speaking at the Vatican on the role of fathers, the leader of the world’s Roman Catholic Church says that it’s okay to occasionally discipline a child with a whack on the bottom rather than the face “so as to not humiliate them.”
Francis said he knew of one father who did so, exclaiming, “How beautiful. He knows the sense of dignity! He has to punish them but does it justly and moves on.”
The Vatican later issued a statement to clarify the pontiff’s remarks, contending that they shouldn’t be taken out of context. Francis, according to the press office, was only speaking of helping a child “grow and measure,” not advocating violence or cruelty.
Last year, the United Nations human rights committee said the Catholic Church should speak out against any corporal punishment against children, either at home or in schools.
While the Vatican argued that it did not promote corporal punishment, there was little that could be done to force a ban in schools despite harsh discipline being reportedly widespread at Catholic institutions.
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