The Vatican has moved to clarify remarks from the Pope about smacking, saying the Pontiff was not encouraging parents to hit their children.

Last week, Pope Francis praised a father he met who said he hit his children if they behaved badly - but never in the face so as not to humiliate them.

A spokesperson for the Holy See says the Pope was speaking about "correcting without humiliating" with love and respect for dignity.

Fr Federico Lombardi said: "I wish to only point out that the Pope was speaking about the responsibility of parents to "correct without humiliating", or rather, to assume the responsibility of keeping their children on the right track and to help them grow up well".

"Finding the right way to "correct without humiliating" is part of the responsibility of good parents in a variety of situations".

"The Pope, for his part, was not encouraging parents to hit their children", he added.

Yesterday, the former President Mary McAleese hit out at Pope Francis saying he had "turned the clock back considerably" on children's rights.

In response to the Pope's comments, Mrs McAleese said: "What faith are we to have now in the Holy See's commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child?".

In a Newstalk poll held Friday, 69% of people said it is acceptable to slap a child - while 31% said it is not.