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.
Canada will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into Canada on Aug. 9, and those from the rest of the world on Sept. 7.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is writing what his publisher is calling an “intimate and heartfelt memoir.” The book, currently untitled, is expected to come out late in 2022.
Pacific Gas & Electric says its equipment may have been involved in the start of the big Dixie Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada.
German officials defended their actions ahead of last week’s devastating floods that caught many towns by surprise and left 196 people dead in Western Europe, but they conceded that lessons still need to be learned from the disaster.
Jill and Carlo are back for a new week as Canada overtakes the U.S. in vaccinations and the White House blames Facebook for our rate plateauing. Plus, Team USA loses another top athlete ahead of the Olympics.
Smoke and heat from the massive wildfire in southeastern Oregon are creating so-called fire clouds over the blaze.
Emergency workers in western German and Belgium are rushing to rescue hundreds of people in danger or still unaccounted for as the death toll from devastating floods rose to more than 125 people.
Cheddar recs 'Black Summer,' 'The Komisky Method,' 'Gunpowder Milkshake,' 'Star Wars: The Bad Batch,' and 'Power Book III,' for streaming the weekend of July 16, 2021.
Jill and Carlo debate the new Los Angeles County mask mandate. Severe flooding sweeps through Germany, who bailed out on Bezos' spaceflight, a major medical breakthrough and more.
Actor and investor Ashton Kutcher revealed he wasn't going to be making his Virgin Galactic trip into space after discussion with his fellow celeb wife Mila Kunis.
