Photo by. AP Pope Francis said it might be necessary to seek psychiatric help if a child begins to exhibit “worrisome” traits.

KNOCK — Pope Francis said parents of gay children shouldn’t condemn them, ignore their orientation or throw them out of the house. Rather, he said they should pray, talk and try to understand.

Speaking to reporters after closing out a Catholic family rally in Ireland, Francis said: “There have always been gay people and people with homosexual tendencies.”

Francis was asked what he would tell a father of a child who just came out as gay. Francis said he would first suggest prayer.

“Don’t condemn. Dialogue. Understand, give the child space so he or she can express themselves.”

Francis said it might be necessary to seek psychiatric help if a child begins to exhibit “worrisome” traits, but that it’s something else if an adult comes out as gay.

He urged parents not to respond with silence. “Ignoring child with this tendency shows a lack of motherhood and fatherhood.”

He said: “This child has the right to a family. And the family not throwing him out.”

Pope Francis is defending his procedures to hold bishops accountable for covering up priestly sex abuse, saying a tribunal isn’t necessary and that his ad-hoc approach works better.

Meanwhile, the pontiff has declined to confirm or deny claims by the Vatican’s retired US ambassador that he briefed the Pope in 2013 about sexual misconduct allegations against disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.