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.
However, he had never come out publicly in favor of civil unions as pope, and no pontiff before him had, either.
“The pope’s statement clearly contradicts what has been the long-standing teaching of the church about same-sex unions," he said in a statement.
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.