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Amid an international fracas over Pope Francis’ words on civil unions in a newly released documentary, the pope’s remarks have begun to be used to criticize Catholic organizations facing ongoing religious liberty challenges in the U.S. – despite the pope’s very public alignment with these organizations on the issues of same sex marriages and adoptions.
A Mexican broadcaster said Thursday that the Vatican held back footage from a 2019 interview that it conducted with Pope Francis, in which the pope called for the passage of civil union laws for same-sex couples. That footage appears in a documentary on Pope Francis released this week, but the Vatican has not yet explained the situation.
“Francesco,” a newly released documentary on the life and ministry of Pope Francis, has made global headlines, because the film contains a scene in which Pope Francis calls for the passage of civil union laws for same-sex couples.
Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ, director of the Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, said on Wednesday evening that an expression of support for same-sex civil unions from Pope Francis is “nothing new” and does not signify a change of Catholic doctrine. But the priest’s remarks have raised some question about the origin of comments from Pope Francis on civil unions, which were featured in the newly-released documentary “Francesco.”
In a documentary that premiered Wednesday, October 21 in Rome, Pope Francis called for the passage of civil union laws for same-sex couples, departing from the position of the Vatican’s doctrinal office and the pope’s predecessors on the issue.
Pope Francis on Sunday, October 18 expressed his solidarity with the 18 fishermen who, for over one and a half months, have been held in Libya.
Pope Francis affirmed the signal importance of peace at an interreligious gathering Tuesday on Rome’s Capitoline Hill.
Pope Francis accepted Saturday the resignation of the Bishop of Kalisz in central Poland, Edward Janiak, who is under investigation for his handling of an abuse case.
Catholics, by virtue of their baptism, must affirm to the world God’s primacy in human life and in history, Pope Francis said Sunday.
The Holy See press office said Saturday a resident of the Vatican hotel where Pope Francis also lives has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo has been appointed to the Vatican’s Council of Cardinals, whose members have the responsibility of advising Pope Francis.
Pope Francis said Thursday that, among other global goals for education, he wants the world “to see in the family the first and essential place of education.”
In Africa, efforts to attain economic freedom are not working since they have only widened the gap between a few rich individuals and the majority poor, religious experts who met to discuss Pope Francis’ new Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, have said.
Catholic communicators in Cameroon have been urged to play the gate-keeping role, taking note of the events in society and striving to guard the people of God against evil in collaboration with their respective Local Ordinaries.
Catholic leaders in Africa have joined the more than 140 other Christian groups’ representatives from across the world who are calling on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to cancel developing nations’ debts amid COVID-19 challenges.
Consecrated persons in Kenya have been encouraged to cultivate and nurture hope, seeking God’s grace to realize their mission of being “signs of hope, Spirit-filled evangelizers” among the people of God amid life’s challenges.
Pope Francis said Sunday that the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis provides a witness for young people that true happiness is found when one puts God first.
Pope Francis sent a video message to the TED Countdown summit on climate change Saturday explaining how a more “integral ecology” can help the poor.
The leadership of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) that brings together Catholic Bishops in Africa has welcomed the latest Encyclical of Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, as a document that provides for an end to ethnic divisions in and outside the Church in Africa.
Healthcare must be made more accessible to the poor in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, Pope Francis said Wednesday.