Rome (AP) – The Vatican says Pope Francis’ comments on gay civil unions were taken out of context in a documentary that pieced together portions of an old interview, but still Francis’s belief in this Was confirmed that gay couples should enjoy legal protection.
The state’s Vatican Secretariat issued guidance to the ambassadors to explain the uproar that arose following Francis’ remarks following the October 21 premiere of the film “Francesco” at the Rome Film Festival. Vatican nuncio of Mexico, Archbishop Franco Coppola, posted unsigned guidance on his Facebook page on Sunday.
In it, the Vatican confirmed that Francis was referring to his position in 2010 when he was a radical of Buenos Aires and strongly opposed steps to allow same-sex marriage. Instead, he supported providing legal protection to gay couples deemed in Argentina as a civil union law.
While Francis was known to have taken the position in private, he had never imagined his support as a pope. As a result, the comments made headlines, mainly because in 2003 the Vatican’s Office of Doctrine issued a document prohibiting such support. The document, signed by Francis’s predecessor as pope, cannot in any way lead to the Church’s endorsement of gay people “for the approval of homosexual behavior or the legal recognition of gay unions.”
The recent uproar drew even more attention as it turned director Avgeni Afinevski misleading reporters, claiming that Francis had commented on him in a new interview. A week before the premiere, when asked about the civil union’s comments, Afinewski told The Associated Press that he had two on-camera interviews with the pope. In comments to reporters after the premiere, he claimed that the civil union footage came with the translator present with the Pope in an interview.
It turns out, Francis’ comments were apparently taken from a May 2019 interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa that never aired. The Vatican has not confirmed or denied reports by Mexico sources that the Vatican cut excerpts from footage provided to Televisa after the interview, which was filmed with Vatican cameras.
Afinevski was apparently given access to the original, uncut footage in the Vatican archives.
The guidance issued by the state secretariat does not address the issue of the cut bid or it came from a Televisa interview. It merely states that it was from a 2019 interview and that the comments used in the documentary separated parts of the two different responses in a way that removed the critical context.
“More than a year ago, during an interview, Pope Francis answered two different questions at two different times, edited in the above documentary, and gave them the same answer without proper reference. As a result of which caused confusion. ” Posted by Coppola.
In the film, Afinevsky narrates the story of Andrea Rubera, a married gay Catholic who wrote to Francis seeking advice on bringing her three young children to church with her husband.
This was a veiled question, noting that the Catholic Church teaches that gay people should be treated with respect and dignity, but homosexual acts are “intrinsically disorganized.” The Church also believes that marriage is an untouched union between man and woman, and consequently, gay marriage is unacceptable.
In the end, Rubera recounts how Francis urged him to approach his remuneration in a transparent manner and to bring the children to faith, which he did. After an anecdote ended, the film cut off Francis’ comments from a television interview.
“Gay people have the right to remain in the family. They are children of God, ”Francis said. “You cannot get someone out of the family, nor can you make your life miserable for this. We have a civil union law; In this way they are legally covered. “
Francis’ remarks under the guidance of the Vatican point to a child’s right to parent with gay children, and that it is not necessary for them to exclude or discriminate against their children.
Francis was not supportive of gay couples’ right to adopt children, even though Rubera enforced the location of the dialect after his story, it seems that Francis was.
Pope’s comments about gay civil unions came from a different part of the televisa interview and included several caviates who were not included in the film.
In a Televisa interview, Francis clarified that he was explaining his position 10 years ago about a unique case in Buenos Aires, as opposed to Rubera’s position or gay marriage.
In a television interview, Francis also insisted that he always upheld Catholic doctrine and that there was a “dissonance” to the Catholic Church as far as “gay marriage” is concerned.
The documentary eliminated that reference.
Televisa footage is available online, and includes an odd cut after Francis talked about the “incompatibility” of gay marriage. Presumably, this is where he is in his position as archbishop in favor of providing legal protection for gay couples.
Neither the Vatican nor Afinevski have responded to repeated questions about the cut dialect or its origins.
Vatican guidance insists that Francis was not denying Church doctrine. But it does not explain how their support for granting Argentine legal protection to gay couples in 2010 can be extended to the Doctrine of Faith with a 2003 document that states “Principles of Respect and Non-Discrimination Cannot be implemented. ” To support the legal recognition of gay unions. “
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