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"I stood up for that": Pope Francis voices support for same-sex civil unions

21 October 2020
 Dan Ackermann

Pope Francis voiced his support for same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope in the documentary “Francesco,” which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival, per the Catholic News Agency.

Why it matters: The pope’s remarks represent a break from the position of the Roman Catholic Church, which has long taught that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered" and contrary to natural law.

  • In 2003, under the direction of Pope John Paul II, the Vatican’s Congregation taught that “respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society.”

What he's saying: "What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered," Pope Francis says in the Evgeny Afineevsky-directed film, which is set to premiere in North America on Sunday, per CNA.

  • "I stood up for that," Pope Francis adds, appearing to refer to his reported endorsement of same-sex civil unions while archbishop of Buenos Aires.
  • “Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it,” he says.
  • According to AP, Juan Carlos Cruz, the Chilean survivor of clergy sexual abuse and one of the film's main characters, said the pope assured him in May 2018 that God made Cruz gay.
  • Pope Francis also addresses the environment, poverty, migration, inequality, and discrimination in the film.

Worth noting: It's unclear when the interview featured in the documentary took place.

  • The Vatican did not immediately comment on Pope Francis' remarks. A spokesman told the New York Times that he would not comment until he had seen the film and the pope’s remarks.

Flashback: Pope Francis sparked controversy among Catholics in 2013 for saying, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.