Pope Francis calls for new civil union laws for same-sex couples
POPE FRANCIS has called for the creation of civil-union laws for same-sex couples in what amounts to his clearest support to date.
The Catholic News Agency reports the Pope is quoted in a new documentary as saying that same-sex couples should be “legally covered”.
“What we have to create is a civil-union law,” he said.
Pope Francis has long expressed an interest in outreach to the church’s LGBT followers, but his remarks have often stressed general understanding and welcoming – rather than substantive policies.
Priests in some parts of the world bless same-sex marriage, but that stance – and Pope Francis’s new remarks – are a departure from official church teaching.
The documentary, Francesco, is premiering this week in Rome and then in the United States.
The Pope gave an interview to filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky saying “homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family”.
“They’re children of God and have a right to a family,” the Pope said. “Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it.”
Pope Francis has given earlier, oblique signals interpreted as openness to recognising same-gender civil unions. He has usually framed his comments in pragmatic, curious terms – as someone noticing the possible need for legal recognition for existing families so they can access civil benefits such as heath care.
“This is the first time as Pope he’s making such a clear statement,” the Rev James Martin, a prominent Jesuit who has advocated for the church to more openly welcome LGBT members, said yesterday. “I think it’s a big step forward. In the past, even civil unions were frowned upon in many quarters of the church. He is putting his weight behind legal recognition of same-sex civil unions.”
According to a Religion News Service (RNS) story from 2014, Pope Francis – while still a cardinal in Argentina – tried to “negotiate with the Argentine government over the legalisation of gay marriage and signalled he would be open to civil unions as an alternative”.
Pope Francis made news that year when the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published an interview with him reiterating “the church’s teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman while acknowledging that governments want to adopt civil unions for gay couples and others to allow for economic and other benefits”, RNS reported.
In the interview, the Pope said the churches in various countries must account for those reasons when formulating public policy positions. “We must consider different cases and evaluate each particular case,” Corriere della Serra quoted him as saying.
The interview triggered global interest and controversy. Some said Francis had outright endorsed civil unions.
The Vatican quickly clarified that Pope Francis was speaking in general terms and people “should not try to read more into the Pope’s words than what has been stated,” RNS reported. (© The Washington Post)