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.
In recent years, extreme weather events like flooding and wildfires have become more frequent, and more severe - and scientists say global warming is to blame. Climate crises could leave people in need of help, and that's where Global Rescue steps in. The crisis response firm employs former Navy Seals and Army Rangers to rescue travelers from climate-related emergencies. Global Rescue CEO Dan Richards joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Cloud-based AI-powered writing assistant Grammarly recently raised $200 million in a funding round that values the company at $13 billion. The funding will be used to help Grammarly achieve its goal of becoming more ubiquitous, as the company says it wants to be the go-to writing assistant for wherever people type. Grammarly also says it aims to solve what it calls one of the most critical problems facing people and businesses today -- ineffective communication. Grammarly global head of product Rahul Roy-Chowdhury joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Jennifer Lotito, president and COO at the non-profit (RED), joined Cheddar to discuss the CODE (RED) campaign as the organization looks to expand its mission to support both AIDS and COVID-19 relief. She explained that people can get involved in the campaign for Giving Tuesday and ahead of World AIDS Day by shopping (RED) branded products and even using credit card rewards points to add their own support. Lotito also pointed out that COVID-19 has also impacted HIV testing as people avoid clinics out of fear of the other pandemic.
The Movember Foundation is celebrating the end of Movember, the annual fundraising event that involves the growing of moustaches as a way to draw attention to men's health issues, including suicide prevention and prostate cancer. Mark Hedstrom, the U.S. executive director for the Movember Foundation, joined Cheddar to discuss the organization's goals and the fundraising partnerships it's secured. He also talked about normalizing conversations around men's mental health.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Dr. Dorothy Kim, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature at Brandeis University, discusses the roots that modern-day white supremacy has in Viking history, despite its many factual inaccuracies; Vikings are often misunderstood and while their brutality is what's shown in popular culture, there are many misconceptions about who they really were. Philip Parker, Historian and author of 'The Northmen's Fury', helps break down the true Viking history.; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Viking Women.'
Dr. Dorothy Kim, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature at Brandeis University, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss the roots that modern-day white supremacy has in Viking history, despite its many factual inaccuracies.
Vikings are often misunderstood and while their brutality is what's shown in popular culture, there are many misconceptions about who they really were. Philip Parker, Historian and author of 'The Northmen's Fury', joins Cheddar Reveals to break down the true Viking history.
