EVGENY AFINEEVSKY

Instead, he favored extending legal protections to gay couples under what is understood in Argentina as a civil union law. It turned out, Francis’ comments were apparently taken from a May 2019 interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa that were never broadcast. The guidance issued by the secretariat of state doesn’t address the issue of the cut quote or that it came from the Televisa interview. After the anecdote ends, the film cuts to Francis’ comments from the Televisa interview. The pope's comments about gay civil unions came from a different part of the Televisa interview and included several caveats that were not included in the film.

Pope Francis, right, greets bishops at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary Francesco, which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. A source in Mexico said the Vatican, which used its own cameras to shoot the interview and provided raw footage to Televisa afterward, had deleted the civil union quote in question. After the anecdote ends, the film cuts to Francis’ civil union comments in the Televisa interview. As pope, Francis had never come out publicly in favor of legal protections for civil unions, and no pontiff before him had, either.

Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary Francesco, which premiered Wednesday, Oct. 21 2020 at the Rome Film Festival. 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 legal protections for civil unions as pope, and no pontiff before him had, either. The official 2019 Vatican News transcript of that interview, as well as the official Vatican edit, contains no such comment on the need for legal protections for civil unions. When The Associated Press interviewed Afineevsky on Oct. 14, the director was asked if he realized at the time that Francis’ comments were going to grab headlines.

ROME – Pope Francis became the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions in comments for a documentary that premiered Wednesday, sparking cheers from gay Catholics and demands for clarification from conservatives, given the Vatican’s official teaching on the issue. 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, and no pontiff before him had, either. Wim Wenders did that in the 2018 film “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word.”“Francesco,” is more a visual survey of the world’s crises and tragedies, with audio from the pope providing possible solutions. Instead, Rubin said, Bergoglio urged his fellow bishops to lobby for gay civil unions.