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“What we have to create is one civil union law. In this way, homosexuals would enjoy legal coverage. I have defended this ».
The Pope’s words are contained in the documentary “Francesco” by Evgeny Afineevsky, presented on Wednesday afternoon at the Rome Film Festival, and represents an important step: It is the first time that a pontiff says he is in favor of homosexual civil unions – of a path that the Church has been preparing for some years.
Homosexuals have the right to be in a family. They are children of God and have the right to a family.. No one should be kicked out or unhappy about it, ”says Francesco in the documentary.
In recent years, moreover, several cardinals and personalities close to the Pope had supported the same line. Francis has repeatedly clarified that “there can be no confusion between the family loved by God and any other type of union”, as he explained to the Roman Rota in 2016: “marriage between man and woman” must be distinguished from other unions.
In favor of the recognition of civil unions, among others, the cardinals have spoken out in recent years Walter kasperme Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the CEI, and bishop Marcello semeraro, very close to Francisco, recently appointed head of the Congregation of Saints in place of Cardinal Becciu.
The pontificate of Francis is marked by openings towards the LGBT world. Last month, he told the parents of the association “Tenda di Gionata” that he greeted them at the end of a general audience: “The Pope loves your children as they are because they are children of God.”
A change of attitude that went around the world since the beginning of the pontificate, the answer to the journalists who in 2013 asked him, returning from Rio de Janeiro, if there was a gay lobby in the Vatican: “You have to distinguish the fact that a person is gay when lobbying, if he is lobbying, not all are good. If a person is homosexual and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge him?».
In the documentary, Bergoglio refers to Andrea Rubera, father -with a partner- of three children. One morning he delivered a letter to the Pope explaining that he wanted to raise his children in the Catholic faith, but feared how they might be received in the local parish. The Pope – says Rubera in the film – then called him on the phone saying he was moved and urging him to introduce his children to life in the parish, but preparing to meet resistance. Rubera, in the movie, says that he actually had his children attend the parish and that he is happy with the choice he made.
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