Pope Francis waves to faithful at the end of the weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
By Nicole Winfield
Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which had its premiere at the Rome Film Festival on Wednesday.
The papal thumbs up came midway through the film that delves into issues he cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.
“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said in one of his sit-down interviews for the film. “What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”
While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis endorsed civil unions for gay couples as an alternative to same-sex marriages. However, he had never come out publicly in favor of civil unions as pope.
Director Evgeny Afineevsky had remarkable access to cardinals, the Vatican television archives, and the pope himself. He said he negotiated his way in through persistence, and deliveries of Argentine mate tea and Alfajores cookies that he got to the pope via some well-connected Argentines in Rome.
Alyssa Fox, the first Asian-American to star as Elphaba the witch in Broadway's 'Wicked,' spoke with Cheddar News to discuss how she landed her dream role and the logistics behind her character.
A business venture gives people of all abilities a shot at employment, two sisters find a way to bring joy to kids battling cancer and how a viral post helped a rescue dog find a forever home.
The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a photographer who claimed the late Andy Warhol had violated her copyright on a photograph of the singer Prince.
A man has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” federal prosecutors in North Dakota say. The shoes were stolen in 2005 and recovered in a 2018 FBI sting operation, but no arrests were made at the time.
Air hostess Nabira Sashmi and her mother are both flight attendants for Indigo, and on a recent flight on which they were both working, she delivered a speech over the loudspeaker about the first time she saw her mother in uniform.
