ONE STEP AT A TIME OR NOT ENOUGH?
Pope Francis Says Same-Sex Couples Should Be ‘Legally’ Protected by Civil Unions
Pope Francis is calling for same-sex couples to be “legally” protected by civil union laws.
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family,” the Pope says in a new documentary, Catholic News Agency reports. “They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it.”
Later, Pope Francis defended his remarks in the film, saying, “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”
“I stood up for that,” he added.
The Pope said nothing about the morality of same-sex relationships, which the Catholic Church still vehemently opposes.
The Vatican leader’s remarks, while a step forward, show the Roman Catholic Church continues to treat LGBTQ people unequally.
Some are calling the Pope’s remarks a “major shift,” and a “long overdue moment.” Others have noted to Catholics in countries where same-sex relationships or marriages are banned it is a welcome sign.
Pope Francis continues to oppose marriage for same-sex couples. He has a lengthy record of vacillating between making compassionate statements about same-sex couples and gay people, while denouncing in the strongest possible terms affording them the same rights and responsibilities as those in different-sex marriages.
In 2014, for example, Pope Francis called same-sex marriage “anthropological regression.”
One year later he said same-sex marriage threatened to “disfigure God’s plan.” He later called marriages of same-sex couples “disfigured.” Also in 2015 he announced support for constitutional bans on marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.
The following year Francis said the Catholic Church and Christians “must ask forgiveness” and “apologize” to gay people. In 2018 the Pope reportedly told a gay man, “God made you like this. God loves you like this. The Pope loves you like this and you should love yourself and not worry about what people say.”
Image by Long Thiên via Flickr and a CC license
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