Pope Francis has backed same-sex civil unions in a move that is likely to further enrage his conservative opponents in the Catholic church.
His endorsement came in an interview in a documentary film, Francesco, which premiered at the Rome film festival on Wednesday.
He said: “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”
The feature-length film, directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, tells the story of Francis’s papacy over the past seven and a half years, covering many of the trips he made before the Covid-19 pandemic and his handling of the sexual abuse scandals that have engulfed the church.
It also focuses on issues that Francis has made the hallmarks of his papacy, including the environment, poverty, migration, and inequality.
As pope, Francis has never previously publicly backed civil unions for same-sex couples, although as he endorsed such legal arrangements when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.
“This is the first time as pope he’s making such a clear statement,” Father James Martin, a prominent Jesuit who has argued that the church should be more welcoming to LGBT people, told the Washington Post.
“I think it’s a big step forward. In the past, even civil unions were frowned upon in many quarters of the church. He is putting his weight behind legal recognition of same-sex civil unions.”
Since he was elected pope in March 2013, Francis has sought to adopt a more inclusive tone towards LGBT people in his public statements.
Soon after becoming pope, he said in response to a question about gay priests: “Who am I to judge?”
Last month, he reportedly told a group representing the parents of LGBT children that “God loves your children as they are” and “the pope loves your children as they are, because they are children of God”.
In 2018, Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of sexual abuse who met the pope – and who features in the documentary – said: “He told me: ‘Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like this and loves you like this and I don’t care. The pope loves you like this. You have to be happy with who you are.’”
According to traditional church teaching, marriage can only be between a man and a woman, and the church has opposed legal recognition of same-sex unions.
Pope Francis’s conservative opponents have been infuriated by statements that they regard as part of an effort to shift the the church towards progressive values. Some have publicly attacked him, even accusing him of heresy,
Afineevsky, an award-winning Russian-born director, said he hoped the film would be released for home streaming.
“If before he was able to travel to every periphery in the world, right now, only his words can travel. That’s why for me releasing the movie right now was so important – so that his words and his actions can travel around the world,” he said.
