Pope Francis endorses same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco.” “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said.
Pope Francis, who since the beginning of his pontificate has taken a more tolerant tone toward homosexuality, appeared to break with the position of the Roman Catholic Church by supporting civil unions for same-sex couples, according to remarks Francis made in a new documentary that debuted in Rome on Wednesday.
Speaking about pastoral outreach and care for people who identified as homosexual Francis directly addresses the issue of civil unions in the film.
“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” Francis said amid remarks in which he otherwise reiterated his support for gay people as children of God. “I stood up for that.”
It was not immediately clear when Francis made those remarks, but Evgeny Afineevsky, the director of the documentary, ‘‘Francesco,’’ said that Francis made the remarks directly to him for the film.
