In an unprecedented move by none other than the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis has become the first Catholic pope to openly endorse same-sex civil unions.
The comments were taken from a new documentary aptly named “Francesco,” which was released at the Rome Film Festival. The film talks about the life and papacy of Jorge Bergoglio, the former Argentinian cardinal turned pope, as well as the many lives he has positively affected in his so far 7-year reign as the head of the Vatican.
According to the film’s director Evgeny Afineevsky about the focus of his film, “I wanted to tell it through the people whose hearts and minds he touched in his actions.” Throughout his 7-year papacy, Pope Francis, who has been lovingly called “the people’s pope,” has won the hearts of many of with his forward thinking and personal approach to things, having been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2013.
The film shows a series of interviews with the pope, many of which include talks about the environment, discrimination, poverty and racial and income inequality. But one comment that has recently become headline news centers around his statements concerning the LGBTQ community. Pope Francis had shared, “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”
This is also not the first time that the Argentinian priest has talked about this particular issue, but it is the first time he’s publicly talked about it since taking his place as the sitting pope. Back when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, he also encouraged civil unions for gay couples rather than actual same-sex marriages.
Reverend James Martin, a Catholic priest who is known to advocate for LGBTQ Catholics considering he was once gay himself, even praised the pope, saying that the move is “a major step forward in the church’s support for the LGBT people.” As reported by the Associated Press, Fr. Martin also said in a statement, “The pope’s speaking positively about civil unions also sends a strong message to places where the church has opposed such laws.”
But according to a number of conservative leaders within the Catholic Church, they don’t agree with the pope’s statement. In fact, Director of Public Policy at the Archdiocese of New York, Ed Mechmann, even went on to say that the pope “made a serious mistake.”
Yet many others claim that Pope Francis’s words were taken out of context. The Vatican explained that a portion of his words stating that “it is incongruence to speak of homosexual marriage” was removed from his statement in the documentary. Moreover, they iterated, “It is clear that Pope Francis was referring to certain state provisions and certainly not the doctrine of the Church, which he has reaffirmed numerous times over the years.”
Notably, it is also important to understand that there is a distinct difference between same-sex marriage and same-sex civil union. Marriage is an institution of the church, although it has been a historical tradition practiced by a number of other religions. Although there are less people that identify themselves as “religious” these days, and even less as catholic, couples still get married in church due to their sense of tradition. However, a number of conservative churches still refuse to accept and recognize same-sex civil unions to be classified as a “marriage,” preferring to keep the two completely separate as two different classifications.
While a number of people are already satisfied with having gender equality under the law, as well as the legal recognition of same-sex unions, some LGBTQ members that identify as catholic would like to see the recognition of same-sex marriage by the church as well.
For those in the gay community, and especially for those in the LGBTQ Catholic community, the pope’s comments are considered “historic.” At least that was the word used by the executive director of the LGBT organization New Ways Ministry, Francis DeBernardo. He also went on to share, “At the same time, we urge Pope Francis to apply the same kind of reasoning to recognize and bless these same unions of love and support within the Catholic Church, too.”
What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!
True Activist / Report a typo
