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.
Actor, Kendrick Sampson, talks the need for change in Hollywood and the mission to urge the industry to divest from police.
As audiences move away from traditional TV, digital media made its pitch for advertising dollars at the 2020 NewFronts.
The European Union has announced it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S.
The growing consensus is that eating and drinking indoors with people you don't know is among the worst things you can do during the coronavirus pandemic. The Supreme Court comes down on the side of abortion advocates. Also, if you have a food allergy, listen up.
AMC said Monday that it would open approximately 450 U.S. locations on July 30 and the remaining 150 the following week.
Health departments around the U.S. that are using contact tracers to contain coronavirus outbreaks are scrambling to bolster their ranks.
The Ryders Alley Trencher-Fed Society, R.A.T.S. for short, have been prowling NYC for at least three decades for rodents, and their services are required more than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of the Trump era.
Jill and Carlo recap a weekend chock full of news, including the latest pandemic headlines, a bombshell report in the New York Times about Russia, and Facebook's growing advertiser problem.
President of BET Networks, Scott Mills, talks being the first network to host an award show amid the coronavirus pandemic and celebrating the networks 40th anniversary.
