Questions arise over Pope Francis' declaration on same-sex civil unions

Br. Antonio Spadaro, SJ, director of the Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, said Wednesday evening that Pope Francis' expression of support for same-sex civil unions "is not new" and does not mean a change in catholic doctrine. But the priest's observations raised some doubts about the origin of Pope Francis' comments on civil unions, featured in the recently released documentary "Francis".

In a video released by Tv2000, the media apostolate of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Spadaro said that "the director of the film 'Francesco' compiles a series of interviews that have been conducted with Pope Francis over time, giving a great summary of his pontificate and the value of his travels “.

"Among other things, there are various passages taken from an interview with Valentina Alazraki, a Mexican journalist, and in that interview Pope Francis speaks of a right to legal protection for same-sex couples but without in any way affecting the doctrine ”Spadaro said.

Tv2000 is not affiliated with the Vatican and Spadaro is not a Vatican spokesperson.

On Wednesday, the documentary's director, Evgeny Afineevsky, told CNA and other reporters that the pope's statement in support of the legalization of same-sex civil unions was made during an interview the director himself conducted with Pope. Francis.

But the interview that Pope Francis granted to Televisa's Alazraki is shot in the same place, with the same illumination and appearance as the pope's comments on civil unions that were aired in "Francis", suggesting that the observations were from from the interview with Alazraki, and not an interview with Afineevsky.

Spadaro said on October 21 that "there is nothing new" in the pope's speech on civil unions.

“This is an interview released a long time ago that has already been received in the press,” Spadaro added.

And on Wednesday, the priest told The Associated Press that "there is nothing new because it is part of that interview," adding that "it seems strange that you don't remember."

While the Alazraki interview was released by Televisa on June 1, 2019, the pope's comments on civil union legislation were not included in the published version, and had not previously been seen by the public in any context.

In fact, Alazraki told CNA he does not recall the pope making remarks on civil unions, although comparative footage suggests the observation almost certainly comes from his interview.

It is unclear how unedited footage of the Alazraki interview, which Spadaro seemed aware of in his remarks on Wednesday, became available to Afineevsky during the production of his documentary.

On May 28, 2019, Vatican News, the official Vatican news bulletin, published a preview of Alazraki's interview, which did not even contain the reference to the pope's remarks on civil unions.

In a 2014 interview with Corriere della Sera, Pope Francis spoke briefly about civil unions after he was asked to talk about them. The pope distinguished between marriage, which is between a man and a woman, and other types of relationships recognized by the government. Pope Francis did not intervene during the interview on a debate in Italy on same-sex civil unions, and a spokesman later made it clear that he had no intention of doing so.

Pope Francis also talks about civil unions in the little-known 2017 book “Pape François. Politique et société ”, by the French sociologist Dominique Wolton, who wrote the text after several interviews with Pope Francis.

In the English translation of the book, entitled "A Future of Faith: The Path of Change in Politics and Society", Wolton tells Pope Francis that "homosexuals are not necessarily in favor of" marriage ". Some prefer civil union (sic) It's all complicated. Beyond the ideology of equality, there is also, in the word “marriage”, a search for recognition “.

In the text, Pope Francis replies briefly: "But it is not a marriage, it is a civil union".

Based on that reference, some reviews, including one published in America magazine, stated that in the book the Pope "repeats his opposition to gay marriage but accepts same-sex civil union."

Journalists from Cna and other media have asked the Vatican press office for clarification on the source of the pope's interview, but have not yet received an answer