Pope Francis: “I am in favor of civil unions, homosexuals have the right to a family”

“The homosexual people you have the right to be in one family. They are children of God and have the right to a family. No one should be expelled or feel unhappy about it. What we need to create is one civil union law. In this way they are covered legally. I fought for this ”. Talking is Pope Francis in a documentary film by russian director Evgeny Afineevsky presented at the Rome Film Festival. An unprecedented stance and to say the least revolutionary. Because while it is true that Bergoglio, a few months after his election to the pontificate, had opened up to homosexuals, never until now had he spoken in favor of a civil union law. In the movie, Francesco calls one homosexual couple, with three dependent young children, responding to a lyrics in which parents express their great shame in bringing their children parish. The Pope’s advice is to do the same, beyond the prejudices from the people. He was also present at the presentation of the documentary Juan Carlos Cruz, Chilean victim of pedophilia of father Fernando Karadima, who wanted to offer his testimony about the relationship of affection that has been established with Bergoglio. “When I met Pope Francis – said Cruz – he told me how sorry he was for what happened: ‘Juan, it is God who made you gay and in any case he loves you. God loves you and the Pope too he loves you‘”.

An encounter, that of Cruz and Bergoglio, born on the occasion of the Chilean clergy pedophilia scandal that led the Pope to cancel all episcopate of that country, the only provision in the church history. But also on the occasion of the mondiale summit, sought by Francis in the Vatican in February 2019, on the sexual abuse of minors by priests and on the coverage of the episcopate. Event from which various concrete measures were then taken to implement the line of zero tolerance strongly desired by the Pope. In its first international trip, in 2013, in Brazil for World Youth Day, Francis used very clear words about homosexual world. “There is much written – said the Pope – about gay lobby. I still haven’t found anyone to give me an identity card in the Vatican with ‘gay’. They say there are. I think that when you are with a person like that, you have to distinguish between being gay, being a lobbyist, because lobbies are not all good. That’s bad. If a person is homosexual and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge him? The catechism of the Catholic Church explains it in a very beautiful way, and says: “These people should not be marginalized because of this, they should integrate into society.” The problem is not having this tendency, no, we must be brothers, because this is one, but if there is another, another. The problem is to press this trend: petty lobby, political lobby, Mason lobby, many lobbies. This is the more serious problem for me “.

Recently, I met a group of parents with LGBT children from the association Jonathan’s Store, Francis used equally eloquent words: “The Pope loves his children as they are, because they are children of God. The Church does not exclude them because loves them deeply“. In his apostolic exhortation, Christ is aliveBergoglio writes that “young people recognize that the body and the sexuality are essential to your life and growth identity. However, in a world that only emphasizes sexuality, it is difficult to maintain a good relationship with the body and live in peace. emotional relationships. For this and other reasons, sexual morality It is often the cause of misunderstanding and distancing from the Church, since it is perceived as a space for judgment and condemnation. At the same time, young people express an explicit desire for discussion on issues related to the difference between male and female identity, reciprocity between men and women, homosexuality ”.

However, as it emerged during the last quattro sinodi of bishops, the Pope’s openness to the homosexual world and in particular to the recognition of homosexual couples has always found a strong opposition by the world episcopate. The synodal assembly of 2014, called by Francesco to talk about the family. In fact, in the intermediate document of the works it was affirmed that “without denying the moral problems linked to homosexual unions, it is recognized that there are cases in which mutual support until the sacrifice constitutes a precious sustenance for the life of the partners” . With an unprecedented openness also for children living with homosexual couples, “reiterating that the needs and rights of children must always come first.” Openings that were eventually just rejected. Nor should we forget that although the Pope’s words have universal value, come to the moment when the Italian Episcopal Conference objected to law against homophobia. Position that obviously does not reflect the Francesco thought.

Twitter: @FrancescoGrana