https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8864193/Pope-Francis-endorses-sex-civil-unions-saying-Homosexuals-children-God.htmlPope Francis endorses same-sex civil unions, saying: 'Homosexuals are children of God and have the right to be in a family'
- Papal approval came midway through feature-length documentary 'Francesco'
- The film premiered at the Rome Film Festival, Italy, earlier today
- It is first time Francis has endorsed same-sex civil unions since taking papal rolePope Francis has endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time since taking the papal role.
The approval came midway through a feature-length documentary, titled Francesco, which had its premiere at the Rome Film Festival earlier today.
The film delves into issues Francis cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.
'Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it,' Francis said in one of his sit-down interviews for the film.
'What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.'
The Pope's remarks will come as a shock to millions of Roman Catholics who have long followed the doctrine that gay relationships are sinful and accepted the Church's stand against the worldwide advance of gay rights.
Francis's predecessors, including Benedict XVI and John Paul II, condemned same-sex marriage during their papal tenure.
Francis himself had opposed legislation to approve same-sex marriages in Argentina when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires a decade ago - but had supported some kind of legal protection for the rights of gay couples at the time.
But shortly after becoming Pope, he said of gay people that 'we must be brothers'.
He added: 'If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him?'
Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh told Reuters that the pope's comments in the film were some of the clearest language the pontiff has used on the subject since his election in 2013.
The pope, who early in his papacy made the now-famous 'Who am I to judge?' remark about homosexuals trying to live a Christian life, spoke in a section of the film about Andrea Rubera, a gay man who with his partner adopted three children.
Rubera says in the film that he went to a morning Mass the pope said in his Vatican residence and gave him a letter explaining his situation.
He told the pope that he and his partner wanted to bring the children up as Catholics in the local parish but did not want to cause any trauma for the children. It was not clear in which country Rubera lives.
Rubera said the pope telephoned him several days later, telling him he thought the letter was 'beautiful' and urging the couple to introduce their children to the parish but to be ready for opposition.
'His message and his advice was really useful because we did exactly what he told us. It's the third year that they (the children) are on a spiritual path in the parish,' Rubera says in the film.
'He didn't mention what was his opinion about my family so (I think) he is following the doctrine on this point but the attitude towards people has massively changed,' he said.
Oscar-nominated director Evgeny Afineevsky was given remarkable access to cardinals, the Vatican television archives and the pope himself to create the piece.
He said he negotiated his way in through persistence, and deliveries of Argentine mate tea and Alfajores cookies that he got to the pope via some well-connected Argentines in Rome.
