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.
Disney World reopened to the public over the weekend, just as its home state of Florida recorded 15,000 new coronavirus cases -- smashing the daily record reported by any state since the pandemic began.
Carlo's joined by Josh Topolsky, editor-in-chief of Input Magazine, for a special Friday pod about the big decision from the Supreme Court on Trump's taxes, Biden's new populist economic message, the coming eviction wave and more.
Jill and Carlo discuss the latest in the debate over how to reopen schools in the fall, as the Ivy League throws in the towel on fall sports and puts the entire college football season in limbo. Plus, the Supreme Court delivers a win to conservatives, an oppressive heat wave settles in, an iconic retailer goes bankrupt, and the iPhone 12 is coming.
Dr. Nathaniel Beers, president of the HSC Health Care Systems, talks child safety as coronavirus spread concern grows. Beers also discusses the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation to open U.S. schools in the fall.
The Supreme Court is siding with the Trump administration in its effort to allow more employers to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women as required by the Affordable Care Act.
The schools filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging the Trump administration’s decision to bar international students from staying in the U.S. if they take classes online this fall.
Dr. Fauci warns against complacency; the thorny back-to-school debate rages on; another expose on President Trump rocks D.C. & LinkedIn wants to make it so you never mispronounce your coworker's name again.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that oversees student visas, just released new guidelines for international students, which say that if an international student is enrolled in a program that decides to go fully virtual, they must leave the county.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched an all-out effort to reopen schools this fall.
Black-owned bookstores have benefited from the renewed interest, but some mom-and-pop operations have struggled to keep up with the soaring demand.
