In a documentary, Pope Francis defends the right to civil union of homosexuals
On several occasions, Pope Francis has shown openness towards homosexuals.
AP Photo / Gregorio Borgia
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In a documentary entitled Francesco, screened this Wednesday at the Rome International Film Festival, Pope Francis claims to support civil unions between homosexuals.
Unpublished words, even if he has already shown openness and compassion towards homosexuals.
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Pope Francis had never spoken with such force and such freedom of tone in favor of civil unions for same-sex couples.
“
Homosexual people have the right to be with their family.
They are children of God, they have the right to a family,
”he said in the documentary
Francesco
by director Evgeny Afineevsky, presented this Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival.
“
What is needed is a civil union law, they have the right to be legally covered.
I defended that
”.
Since his election at the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis had already mentioned on several occasions, without rejecting it, the notion of civil unions for people of the same sex.
When he was still Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio also defended the merits of this legal protection, in the context of a heated debate in 2010 in his country on the legalization of gay marriages, says his biographer Austen Ivereigh.
His statements in Spanish follow in the documentary the testimony of a Catholic homosexual, father of three, who asked him in a letter if they should attend his church.
The Pope then called him on the phone to advise him to be transparent about his choice of life in his parish and to bring his children there.
If the Sovereign Pontiff has shown openness towards homosexuals, by regularly affirming that they should be welcomed with respect in Catholic parishes and by advising parents not to reject them, he nevertheless remains firmly opposed to their "marriage". .
“
Marriage is a man and a woman.
That is the precise term.
Let’s call same-sex union “civil union”,
”Pope Francis said in a book of interviews by French sociologist Dominique Wolton, published in 2017.
“
'Marriage' is a historical word.
It has always been in humanity, and not only in the Church, it is a man and a woman.
We cannot change it like that
”, the sovereign pontiff still insisted, also criticizing“
the ideology of gender
”which teaches children that they can“
choose their sex
”.
(With
AFP
)
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