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.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab says he is stepping down in the wake of the catastrophic explosion in Beirut last week that triggered public fury and mass protests.
A natural gas explosion has leveled three row houses in Baltimore, killing a woman and trapping others.
Chicago’s police commissioner says more than 100 people were arrested following a night of looting and unrest that left 13 officers injured and caused damage in the city’s upscale Magnificent Mile shopping district and other parts of the city.
Cheddar investigates how the pandemic has changed the landscape of dating and intimacy, and how it added a greater weight to the concept of consent.
TikTok's global chief information and security officer, Roland Cloutier, dismisses claims that the app is a security threat and provides user information to China.
Carlo breaks down the president's executive actions on the economy. Plus, a gut check on the pandemic, Amazon eyeing malls and are you wearing the right mask?
Media reports say 26 billboards are going up across Louisville, Kentucky, demanding that the police officers involved in Taylor’s death be arrested and charged. That’s one billboard for every year of the Black woman’s life.
A comment thread under Roku’s ‘Issues & Questions’ section on its site features 28 pages of disgruntled Roku customers.
The ad hoc state of coronavirus testing; the people vs. the NRA; previewing a critical jobs report; Love, Hate, Ate and more.
The famous tagline is returning after a six-year hiatus to take advantage of a surge in milk sales during the coronavirus pandemic that industry watchers say is the result of more consumers staying home.
