In a first for the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis declared his support for the legal protection of LGBTQIA people in relationships by calling for the passage of civil union laws.
Pope Francis’ position – included in “Francesco“, a documentary by Evgeny Afineevsky – is a departure from the position of the Vatican’s doctrinal office and all of the current pope’s predecessors on this issue.
In the film, Afineevsky asked Pope Francis about the place of LGBTQIA Catholics in the church. The pope emphasized his belief that LGBTQIA people should be made to feel welcome in the church.
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family,” Pope Francis said. “They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it.”
Specifically touching on the issue of civil union, Pope Francis stated: “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”
Before helming the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, where he advocated for same-sex civil unions. It is, nonetheless, worth noting that this was also an attempt to block a same-sex marriage law, since Argentina legalized same-sex marriage in 2010, which then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio called a “destructive attack on God’s plan.”
