Pope Francis calls for civil union laws for same-sex couples
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(Lisa Maree Williams / Stringer)
(ROME) Pope Francis called for the creation of civil union laws for same-sex couplesin a documentary that premiered in Rome this week, according to the Catholic News Agency.
“What we have to create is a civil union law,” the pope reportedly said in the documentary. “That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”
The remarks depart from his and the Vatican’s previous stance on the matter. Francis has expressed interest in outreach to the church’s LGBTQ followers in the past, but it has never resulted in substantive policies, according to the Washington Post.
“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,” Francis said in the film.
The documentary, “Francesco,” chronicles the approach of Pope Francis to pressing social issues, and to pastoral ministry among those who live, in the words of the pontiff, “on the existential peripheries,” the Catholic News Agency reports.
Francis, who became pope in 2013, opposed efforts to legalize same-sex marriage when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 2010, according to the Catholic News Agency.
ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO DEEP 
i’m devastated and scandalized by yet another assault on the Faith by the man charged with the Office of St. Peter. Homosexual unions as a matter of civil law is not keeping with the teachings of Jesus Christ. The practice of homosexual sex is a mortal sin, correct? How could enshrining it in law be anything less than encouraging mortal sin?
When I recite my rosary, I dedicate the first Our Father to the intentions of the 2 Popes, Francis and Benedict XVI. I will still pray for Francis but I will dedicate the my rosary’s first Our Father solely to the intentions of Pope Benedict XVI.
I think my deceased uncle priests would have had a word or two to say about Francis. More importantly, they probably would have told me to stay true to the Church’s teachings, not to the words of Francis.
Every parish priest should take some time and denounce the Pope, denounce civil unions and emphasize the beauty of sacramental marriage, this Sunday.