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Pope Francis defended the regulation of civil marriage between people of the same sex, saying that “homosexuals have the right to be part of a family.” The declarations of the head of the Catholic Church represent the strongest demonstration of support for LGBT rights and mark a considerable distance from the traditional positions of the Vatican.
Francis had already expressed his intention to reach out to homosexual believers and promote their acceptance by the Catholic Church. However, this is the first time that he has publicly defended the civil union between people of the same sex and he says so openly.
“What we need is a civil union law. Therefore, they are legally insured. I defended that ”, said the Pope, during a documentary that premiered this Wednesday in Italy and whose statements were released by the site Catholic News Agency.
Homosexuals have the right to be part of a family. No one should be left out or devastated by it, ”Francisco said.
The Pope’s position was revealed during the documentary Francesco, which debuted this Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. The film focuses on the way in which the Pope, elected in 2013, addresses social problems, especially among those who live “on the existential peripheries”, explains the Catholic News Agency.
There was high expectation that same-sex marriage would be addressed during the family synod in 2015, but there was no news. At that time, the Vatican was experiencing a “war of the deaf” between the conservative and progressive wings, where Francis was inserted. At that time, the Pope stated that “there should be no confusion between the family desired by God and other types of union.”
“I think it’s a big step forward,” he told the The Washington Post The Rev. James Martin, who has long advocated welcoming gays to church. “In the past, even civil unions were viewed from the side in various places in the church. He is putting his weight in favor of the legal recognition of same-sex unions, “he added.
When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francisco opposed the government’s plans to approve same-sex marriage, but was in favor of another type of legal recognition. In the book In heaven and earth, published in 2013, the Pope did not reject the possibility of recognizing civil unions, but argued that the laws that “equate” homosexual unions with marriages are an “anthropological regression.
Francis’s statements may not mark an immediate change in the Catholic Church’s doctrine regarding the reception of homosexuals, but they represent an openness and a change in mindset. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, described homosexuality as an “intrinsic moral evil.”
In 2003, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, determined that “respect for homosexuals should not, under any circumstances, lead to the approval of homosexual behavior or the legal recognition of unions. homosexuals. “
