Pope Francis on Monday said that parents of gay children shouldn't condemn or ignore them, but added that psychiatric help may be needed if a young child exhibits "turmoil".

The Pontiff said that a parent who realizes his child was gay should pray, seek dialogue and try to understand, and that silence was never "a solution". Speaking to reporters on his flight home from Ireland on Monday, Francis was asked what he would tell a father of a child who just came out as gay. Francis said it might be necessary seek psychiatric help if a child begins to exhibit turmoil, but that it was something else if an adult comes out as gay.