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Pope Francis Says Parents Shouldn’t Condemn Their Gay Children

Pope Says Parents Shouldn’t Condemn Their Gay Children

The Vatican retracted one of his statements after suggestions he may be labeling homosexuality a “mental illness.”

Pope Francis, in his interaction with reporters in Ireland, recommended that parents must not condemn their gay children[/tweetit] and ignore their orientation. Instead, he told them after he closed a scheduled Catholic family rally, they should pray to God, talk to their children, and try to understand them. Parents, under no condition, should throw their children out of the house. The pontiff said that gay and homosexual people were present throughout history.

Pope Francis Says Parents Shouldn’t Condemn Their Gay Children[/tweetthis]

When someone asked what to tell the father of any child who just confessed to being gay, the pope said that prayer should be the first course of action. He urged parents to give their child the required space to express what they feel. He then said that parents should not hesitate to ask for psychiatric help incase their child starts to show “worrisome” traits. This suggestion is not applicable for adults coming out as a homosexual. Francis requested parents not to be silent in such cases. He claimed that ignoring a child displays an absence of fatherhood and motherhood. He concluded by saying that the child has every right to be a part of a family. The family should not eject him from the fold.

The Vatican promptly retracted Pope Francis's recommendation to parents that they should ask for psychiatric help. The Holy See removed the phrase from the official account. When asked the reason, the Vatican replied that the pope had not suggested that homosexuality could be some kind of mental illness.

Reporters on the papal plane would describe the conversation as otherwise: when asked by a reporter what the pontiff will say to parents who saw gay traits in their wards, Francis told the media that if homosexuality signs could be seen in the early years, then substantial progress could be made via psychiatry. Only after doing this can progress be observed. Things could be different if homosexual tendencies assert itself after about 20 years. The Holy See removed all statements linked to psychiatry from the record. When asked about the reason, a Vatican spokesperson told the media that it was done so with the aim the Holy Father's thoughts should not be changed.

The spokesperson said that the pope's reference to psychiatry was in the context of what things could be a possibility. Francis had no intention to label homosexuality as “mental illness.”

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