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.
Young people across the world are uniting, calling on policymakers to adress the climate crisis. 15-year-old Alexandria Villasenor, founder of Earth Uprising, talks launching the movement and an upcoming partnership with GAP Kids on a virtual rally, encouraging the youth to make their voices heard about issues they want fixed.
Kamala Harris previews the Biden campaign's strategy for the fall. Plus, a schism developing in college sports, restaurant industry in early stages of collapse, and the Great Showerhead Debate.
Federal authorities have charged three men with harassing and intimidating women who have accused R&B singer R Kelly of abuse.
CuriosityStream CEO, Clint Stinchcomb, talks about the company's plan to go public as it expands its global reach and also explains what sets his platform apart from others.
Sumner Redstone, who built a media empire from his family’s drive-in movie chain, has died.
Kamala Harris makes history as Joe Biden's VP pick, the Big 10 and Pac 12 bow out of a fall season, and the Phoenix Suns' shine in the NBA bubble.
New Zealand's prime minister says authorities have found four cases of the coronavirus in one Auckland household from an unknown source, the first cases of local transmission in the country in 102 days.
Carlo and Baker talk about the encouraging signs in air travel, another encouraging sign in Florida, plus Facebook's QAnon problem and what to do about college football.
Efforts have intensified in Mauritius to empty a stranded Japanese ship of an estimated 2,500 tons of oil before the vessel breaks up and contaminates the island’s Indian Ocean coastline.
Tony Petitti is leaving Major League Baseball after 12 years to become president of sports and entertainment for the video game and esports company Activision Blizzard Inc.
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