The pope, in a scene from an upcoming movie, said he believes in legal protections for same-sex couples. Later interpretations by Vatican spokespersons said the pope was not intending to contradict the Church doctrine with regard to same sex marriage.
Recently, Pope Francis was featured in a documentary entitled “Francesco,” which had its first viewing on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at the Rome Film Festival. The documentary was directed by Evgeny Afineevsky and looks at people whose lives have been impacted in some way by the pope. One specific topic that was included in the documentary was tied to the rights of the LGBTQ+ community with regard to family life and the legal protections they should be afforded. As stated in the New Yorker, they mention that the documentary highlights Pope Francis saying, “homosexual people have a right to be in the family. They are children of God. They have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out of the family or made miserable over this. What we have to make is a law of civil coexistence, for they have the right to be legally covered. I stood up for that.”
Over the past few weeks, Pope Francis’ comment in the documentary has gotten a lot of people talking about what he is implying with his words. Some people believe that the comments made in the documentary demonstrate Pope Francis’ support for the LGBTQ+ community and their right to same sex marriage, while others believe his words were referring to his belief that everyone is entitled to a civil union that gives legal protection. There are others who feel that his comment is in conflict with the Church doctrine. There has been a great deal of discussion as a result of these various points of view.
“Pope Francis has NOT in any way challenged or changed the teaching or doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church about someone with a same-sexed attraction,” said Professor Leonard Norman Primiano from the department of religious studies.
In response to the difference of opinions circulating as a result of the pope’s comments, the Vatican has taken the step to further clarify the meaning behind his statement. This was because they were concerned that his comments might have been taken out of context. They highlight that Pope Francis’ statement is actually two different quotes that were put together as a single response. NBC News included a statement by Coppola in their article that said, “more than a year ago, during an interview, Pope Francis answered two different questions at two different times that, in the aforementioned documentary, were edited and published as a single answer without proper contextualization, which has led to confusion.” Therefore, Pope Francis’ statement in the documentary might not accurately reflect what he was trying to convey.
The Vatican confirmed that the pope does believe in legal protections for same-sex couples, but was not intending to contradict the Church doctrine with regard to same sex marriage. This shows how the Vatican is highlighting a difference between civil unions and the institution of marriage. While civil unions afford same-sex couples state protections, it does not mean that they are recognized at the federal level. This differs from marriage where couples are recognized everywhere. There are also differences in the kind of benefits that people are entitled to when married as opposed to those that are available in a civil union.
“The pope feels that gay couples deserve civil, that is CIVIL, or social or legal protections in the secular world to maintain just treatment for all people economically, especially in terms of health care,” said Primiano.
While discussions are ongoing on the interpretation of Pope Francis’ words, the Vatican attempts to reinforce the fact that these comments do not change anything in regard to Church doctrine. However, his words do show that the pope is giving a lot of thought about the issues surrounding civil unions for same-sex couples.
“The mere fact that the pope discusses seriously and thoughtfully such contemporary issues shows how significant he finds them and how he always wants the Church to defend the same civil rights for everyone and most especially people who are underrepresented in society whether sexual, racial, economic, gendered, ethnic underrepresented people,” said Primiano.
While it is a complex discussion, it is clear that the Church doctrine remains unchanged. However, what has become clear is that the pope supports civil unions and legal protections for same-sex couples.
