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.
Brittan Heller, founder of the Center for Digital Civil Rights and a fellow at the Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News to discuss the rise of sexual assault in the metaverse.
President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, have kicked off the first White House Easter Egg Roll since before the coronavirus pandemic, welcoming 30,000 kids and adults for the all-day event.
A container ship the length of more than three football fields has finally been pried from the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay more than a month after it ran aground.
Christine Moore, a celebrity hat designer and featured milliner for the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby, joined Cheddar News to talk about how her headwear became a staple of race day fashion and what Derby watchers can come to expect at this year's horse racing event. “It's always go big or go home," she said. "And it's also very Southern belle style for the first leg of the triple crown, which is the Kentucky Derby." The race will be held on Saturday, May 7.
Content creator, rising musician, and star of the TikTok and Netflix reality show "Hype House," Alex Warren joined Cheddar to talk about overcoming the many challenges in his life in his rise to fame and discussed "Locked In," his new podcast. “All I had was a camera and a computer to my name, and it only made sense to film my experience of going house to house of my friends and saying this is what I can do in this situation," he said, explaining how he got his start.
With more than 6 billion views on YouTube and 12 million followers on social media, Xavier Mortimer is an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed magician and social media star. The former Cirque du Soleil performer joined Cheddar News to discuss his rise to fame on social media amid the pandemic. “Well basically my show closed overnight, and I had nothing else to do," he said. "I started to film videos at home and they took off on TikTok and Instagram." Mortimer also talked about "The Dream Maker," his Las Vegas magic show and even performs a little trick for Cheddar.
