Pope Francis calls for civil unions for same-sex couples

“Homosexuals have a right to be part of the family,” the pontiff said in “Francesco,” a documentary about his life.

(KYMA, KECY) - Pope Francis expresses support for the passage of civil union laws for same-sex couples in a documentary that aired in Rome on Wednesday.

“Homosexuals have a right to be part of the family,” the Pontiff said in “Francesco,” a documentary about his life, according to the Catholic News Agency. “They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it.”

“What we have to create is a civil union law,” he added. “That way, they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”

While serving as archbishop in Buenos Aires, he 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.

The documentary also talks about the growing rich-poor gap, racism, climate change, sexual abuse, migration, human trafficking, political polarization, and relations between Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Other facts covered in his documentary is misjudging the severity of the church's sexual abuse crisis. In which he later publicly recognized his mistake and apologized.