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The Vatican has reportedly backtracked and removed any mention of disturbing comments that had been made by the Pope, during a flight from Dublin to Rome.

The disturbing comments made by Pope Francis were made after he was asked what advice he would give to a father whose son had come out as a homosexual after he had attended one of the worlds largest Catholic events, the World Meeting of Families.

Despite urging parents not to condemn their gay children, he also stated that for younger gay children, “there is much that psychiatry can do.”

In response to widespread outrage and concern, the Vatican has since stated that Pope Francis did not mean to suggest that homosexuality is a mental illness, and have since omitted any mention of his comments from official Vatican transcripts of the discussion.

Speaking with AFP, a Vatican spokeswoman explained that this had been erased in order to not “change the thoughts of the Holy Father.”

“When the Pope referred to ‘psychiatry,’ it is clear that he was doing it to highlight an example of ‘things that can be done.’ But with that word he didn’t mean to say that it (homosexuality) was a ‘mental illness.’”
