Sir, – I think it is sad and disappointing to see that so many people take up incorrectly what Pope Francis was endeavouring to say in relation to the proper disciplining of a child. I believe he was stressing the importance of rebuking children when they are in the wrong, and to rebuke them in a calm and rational way, and then to move on.
If we are to live in a civilised society, it is vital that both children and adults alike understand the importance of “discipline” in the broad sense. – Yours, etc,
MARY REDMOND,
Drumree, Co Meath.
Sir, – Anyone in high public office has to be aware that anything they say in public will be subject to the most meticulous scrutiny, especially in this age of instant communication.
The papacy is now a victim of its own success as an expected source of “good” media stories. Pope Francis’s off-the-cuff remark “Who am I to judge?” in relation to gay people had a world-wide impact in changing the condemnatory attitudes of previous popes towards gay people .
However, last Wednesday’s off-the-cuff remark in which he approved of slapping, once it didn’t humiliate the child, has shown another side of Pope Francis .
I'm sure, as Fr Federico Lombardi of the Vatican press office has stated, that the "Pope was not encouraging parents to hit their children" but that's how it comes across if you read the full transcript of the pope's remarks ("Pope not encouraging smacking of children, says Vatican", February 10th).
Surely in this instance, if that is the pope’s position as stated by Father Lombardi, then the proper procedure should be for the pope to withdraw his remarks and state without any ambivalence or conditionality that all violence against children is wrong and demeans them. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.