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.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
ParaDocs Worldwide, a provider of on-site medical facilities for big events, had to switch gears as the coronavirus pandemic practically eradicated large gatherings overnight.
Kanye West is bringing his Yeezy brand to Gap. The rap superstar will design adult and kids clothing that will be sold at Gap next year.
Jill and Carlo end the week discussing the explosion in COVID cases in the south, and why young people are fueling the surge. Plus, Facebook's problems grow, Amazon solves climate change & Love, Hate, Ate because it's Friday.
The daily U.S. count of new coronavirus cases stood near an all-time high Thursday.
Marking another milestone in France's recovery from coronavirus lockdown, the Eiffel Tower reopened to visitors Thursday after its longest-ever closure in peace time: 104 days.
As nightly fireworks displays have been disrupting and confounding residents across the country, it's explicitly clear that sellers of the popular incendiaries have been seeing a massive bump in their sales.
A grim milestone as the U.S. breaks its two-month-old record for new daily COVID-19 cases. The Marshal service is called in to protect monuments. Joe Biden opens a commanding lead in the presidential race. Plus, Apple didn't tell us the most important of its new software updates.
Cheddar's J.D. Durkin shares his experience with COVID-19 and donating plasma it aid in the fight against the pandemic.
Head of Google for startups, Jewel Burke Solomon and head of Google startup developer ecosystems, Jason Scott talk about the company's plan to invest long-term as well as its dedication to diversity.
