Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has approved same-sex civil unions . By this move, he becomes the first pontiff to do so in a matter met with mixed reactions.
The pope’s approval came midway through a feature-length documentary, titled “Francesco”, which premiered at the Rome film festival on Wednesday. The documentary features fresh interviews with the pope, delves into issues Francis cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination. He said:
“Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family”
“Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”
When he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis endorsed civil unions for gay couples as an alternative to same-sex marriages. However, he never came out publicly to endorse these civil unions as pope.