In an unprecedented move for the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has come out in support of civil unions for same-sex couples.
The Pope made the comments in a new documentary, Francesco, which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. Directed by filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, it includes in-depth interviews with Pope Francis, including comments the leader made on his fight for LGBTQ+ rights. “What we have to create is a civil union law,” Pope Francis says in the documentary. “That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”
The film also features Francis speaking out about LGBTQ+ church members and their right to be included in the faith.
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family,” the Pope explains in the film. “They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it.”
Although Pope Francis has made similarly progressive statements in the past, this is to date the strongest and most explicit support in favor of same-sex unions from a standing Pope, and could hold widespread ramifications for the legality of same-sex partnerships around the world. At the height of the pandemic in May, Francis sent funds to transgender sex workers in Italy, to the consternation of his fellow officials. Just last month, he went a step further by holding a meeting at the Vatican to tell parents of queer youth that “God loves your children as they are.”
Pope Francis’s track record is far more progressive than his homophobic predecessor, Pope Benedict, who once claimed that same-sex marriage will threaten the future of humanity. That’s not to say the current Pope’s support for the freedom to marry is uncomplicated, however: While Francis was still Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 2010, he framed his support of civil unions as an “alternative” to marriage equality — meaning that he still doesn’t believe same-sex couples are entitled to full equality.
Other aspects of his history on LGBTQ+ equality remain concerning. Just a year earlier, Pope Francis and the Vatican released a document that called gender fluidity “nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants.” In a 2016 interview, Pope Francis made similar remarks likening gender theory to a “world war against marriage” and a sign of “ideological colonization” in the West.
Francesco comes at a crucial moment for Pope Francis and for the Catholic Church itself. Although Italy passed civil unions in 2016, protests broke out earlier this month surrounding the church’s failure to recognize a proposal that would give equal protections to LGBTQ+ Italians. In the absence of LGBTQ+ inclusive hate crime laws, progressive organizers put together a proposal to pass a bill that would provide such protections. A petition in favor of the legislation has garnered 70,000 signatures.
Francesco will premiere in America on VOD this Sunday, October 25.
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