Pope Francis Supports Same-Sex Civil Unions

Suzy Woltmann

Spirituality & Religion

21st October 2020

Pope Francis Supports Same-Sex Civil Unions

Pope Francis made the statements in a new documentary (Getty Images).

The Claim

In a break from Catholic tradition, Pope Francis supports same-sex civil unions.

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K. E. Haden, Ph.D. ιστοριογράφος, θεολόγος.

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Emerging story

Francesco, a documentary about Pope Francis, premiered on October 21, 2020. In the documentary, Pope Francis says that he supports civil unions for same-sex couples. The trailer for the documentary is below.

The claim soon went viral on social media.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar’s investigation found that the claim is true. We watched the documentary directed by Evgeny Afineevsky. In Francesco, Pope Francis says regarding LGBTQ+ rights: “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”

This follows years of the Roman Catholic church denying equal rights for its LGBTQ+ followers. In 2003, the Church wrote that: “The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.”

While Pope Francis has long been considered an LGBTQ+ ally, this is the most support he has shown publicly. He further stated in the documentary that “homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family,” and that “they’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it.”