Pope Endorses Civil Unions
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_"Pope Francis has declared support for civil unions for same-sex couples for the first time, according to the Catholic News Agency.
"The Pope made the historic remarks in a new documentary film, "Francesco," which was released in Rome on Wednesday.
"Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They're children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it," the Pope said in the film, the Catholic News Agency reported.
"What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered," the Pope said."_
from https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/europe/pope-gay-couples-civil-union-intl/index.html and also
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/21/pope-francis-backs-same-sex-civil-unions
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-civil-unions-same-sex-endorsement/
and everywhere.
How important are his comments, in your opinion?
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Extremely important, given how many Catholics are on the Supreme Court and in positions of power all over the world as well as followers. This may be the most important thing he has done for humanity, if things go the way they should.
Very rare that religion affects government positively.
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I agree, the comments are absolutely historic and important. The Pope holds much sway among Catholics and it's high time the teachings of the Church follow as closely as to the New Testament as possible and minimize scripture cherrypicking.
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There's a different perspective and comments that also caught my attention:
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When the UK got Civil Partnerships, Tony Blair (a catholic) unironically said that it was "somewhat equal to marriage" and used the "separate but equal" language of the Jim Crow era.
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That's a nice piece of background that resonates, raph.
And going through the morning clippings (on this side of the pond), comes an article asserting that the Pope's comments were not only first made in 2019, but somehow – and honestly, how?! – not brought forth for publication at that time, via the very thin notion that the overall focus of his comments were about different issues.
To which I can only say, "whaaaaa?". Article:
And, with my own very mixed feelings about the Pope and his church, how was this not noticed by just one truthsayer in the papal communications coterie, as well as the Televisa Mexican media handling the interview, so that more than a year passes before the history-changing remarks truly see the light of day?
Something is not passing the smell test here. Anyone have more to add?
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With more LGBTQ discrimination happening (USA medical, Poland etc.), the possibility the SCOTUS may go in that direction might have at least partially inspired that light to shine.
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DoMA died because it violated the Full Faith and Credit clause of the US constitution, by allowing states to ignore gay marriages from other states.
Prior to the DoMA ruling, the US Supreme Court has held that states must honor marriages from other states EXCEPT in cases where the marriage from another state violates the age of sexual consent law in the current state.
MADE UP EXAMPLE:
A couple in Texas gets married, with parental permission, at 14. They move to Maine where the sexual age of consent is 16. Maine is allowed to ignore the marriage and treat them as unmarried children. Once they both turn 16, they can apply to a Maine court to reinstate their marriage.
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Finally religion leader also accepts LGBT community so its huge developement
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It is a very, very small step forward… he talks about "civil marriage", but not "religious marriage" (I don't think we will ever see that happening)... I have very close friends who are catholic and would love to also be able to celebrate a "religious marriage". For them, the fact that the Pope is for "civil" marriages is not important news: in Spain we have been able to celebrate civil marriages since 2005.
