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Image posted, Reuters
The pope’s comments are seen as his clearest stance on the gay relationship.
Pope Francis has defended the right of homosexual people to form a family, saying that they are “children of God.”
The pope’s comments came in a documentary about his life, and are seen as his clearest position on the issue of homosexual relationships.
“Homosexuals have the right to form a family,” the Pope said in the film, which premiered at the Rome Film Festival on Wednesday.
He added: “They are children of God and have the right to start a family. No one should be expelled or feel miserable about this.”
He asked “to draft a civil society law” that gives them legal coverage.
He said he had previously supported this, which appears to be an indication of the period in which the archbishops of Buenos Aires presided, when he supported some form of legal protection for same-sex couples.
The film shows a clip of him encouraging two gay men to visit the church accompanied by their three children.
Biographer Francis Austin Evrig told the BBC that he was not surprised by the recent comments, adding that “this is his position when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.”
He added that the Pope “always opposed same-sex marriage. But he believes that the church should support a law on homosexual civil couples to give them legal coverage.”
In 2003, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that “respect for LGBT persons cannot in any way lead to consent to same-sex conduct or legal recognition of same-sex couples.”
And Pope Francis had said in his book “In Heaven and on Earth” in 2013 that legal equality between same-sex relationships and marriage between the sexes would be an “anthropological retreat.”
She also said that allowing adoptive husbands can affect children, adding that “everyone needs a male father and a female mother, which helps them form their identity.”
That same year, he affirmed the church’s position that homosexual acts are a sin, but said this does not apply to homosexuality.
The Pope asked: “If a homosexual seeks God and has good faith, who am I to judge him?”
In 2014, it was reported that in an interview, the Pope expressed support for the gay civil association, but the Vatican Media Office denied this.
In 2018, Pope Francis raised concerns about homosexuality among the clergy, describing the matter as “dangerous.”
