Did Vatican try to cover up Pope's comments supporting gay civil unions? Pontiff's comments were CUT from 2019 interview footage that has only now emerged
- The Pope endorsed gay civil unions in documentary Francesco on Wednesday
- His comments were cut from 2019 interview footage, Televisa has confirmed
- Vatican had the interview in its archives but only now allowed it to be released
The Pope's comments endorsing same-sex civil unions which emerged this were mysteriously cut from 2019 interview footage, it has been revealed.
Mexican television broadcaster Televisa confirmed Pope Francis's comments were made during a May 2019 interview that was never broadcast in its entirety.
The Vatican had the full interview in its archives but reportedly only allowed the comments to be aired in the documentary Francesco, which premiered on Wednesday.
Televisa said yesterday that the emphasis of its interview was on clergy sexual abuse.
The broadcaster suggested it did not consider the comments on civil unions as newsworthy because Francis had previously indicated support for them.
Pope Francis's endorsement of same-sex civil unions this week were cut from 2019 interview footage, it has emerged
Francis, 83, said: 'Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it'
In it, Francis, 83, said: 'Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it.
'What we have to have is a civil union law, that way they are legally covered.'
But a source in Mexico familiar with the interview said the original raw footage the Vatican provided to Televisa from the interview did not include the quote on civil unions.
How previous Popes have approached same-sex civil unions
John Paul II
John Paul II (October 1978 to April 2005)
Pope John Paul II spoke out repeatedly against same-sex marriage during his tenure, calling it an attack on the fabric of society.
He approved the 2003 document which said Catholic lawmakers had a 'moral duty' to vote against the legal recognition of same-sex unions.
'Attacks on marriage and the family, from an ideological and legal aspect, are becoming stronger and more radical every day,' he said in 2004.
'Who destroys this fundamental fabric causes a profound injury to society and provokes often irreparable damage.'
John Paul II also criticised a gay pride parade through Rome in 2000 as an 'offence to Christian values' and reaffirmed that the Church considered homosexuality 'objectively disordered'.
Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI (April 2005 to February 2013)
Benedict made the battle against secularism a central part of his papacy and called gay marriage a threat to 'human dignity and the future of humanity itself'.
'A century ago, anyone would have thought it absurd to talk about homosexual marriage,' Benedict said in an interview with German journalist Peter Seewald.
As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict had led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when it issued the 2003 paper condemning same-sex unions.
As Pope, in a 2007 speech in Rome, he criticised efforts to give same-sex unions 'inappropriate legal recognition', saying they destabilised the 'legitimate family'.
On another occasion, Benedict said humanity needed to 'listen to the language of creation' to understand the intended roles of man and woman.
He compared behavior beyond traditional heterosexual relations as 'a destruction of God's work.'
The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
The Vatican did not respond to requests for comment.
When the pope consents to interviews, the Vatican television unit films them and provides the full footage to the correspondent to edit and choose what to use.
The Vatican takes that edit and the final product goes out simultaneously via the broadcaster and Vatican media.
One of Francis's top communications advisers, the Reverand Antonio Spadaro, insisted Wednesday the Pope's comments were old news, saying they were made during the May 2019 interview with Televisa.
'There's nothing new because it's a part of that interview,' Spadaro said as he exited the premiere.
'It seems strange that you don't remember.'
But Televisa did not air those comments when it broadcast the interview - nor did the Vatican when it put out its own recordings and a transcript of it.
The broadcaster said it chose to highlight the Pope's more 'journalistically relevant' comments on sexual abuse in the comments it did air, which came just months after Francis hosted bishops from around the world for a child protection summit at the Vatican.
Televisa said: 'The mention of unions between people of the same sex was something that the pope had already mentioned on other occasions prior to our interview in 2019.'
The Vatican frequently edits the Pope in official transcripts and videos, especially when he speaks on sensitive issues.
Yet a version of the full footage was apparently still available in the Vatican archives, which were opened to filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky.
Apparently referring to Francis's position in Argentina, the documentary used the previously unbroadcast quote about Francis' support for a law governing same-sex civil unions.
While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio endorsed extending civil union protections to gay couples as an alternative to moves by the country to approve same-sex marriage, which he firmly opposed.
However, he had never come out publicly in favour of legal protections for civil unions as Pope and no pontiff before him has either.
Afineevsky, when pressed by reporters late Wednesday, said Francis made the comments to him directly, through a translator, but declined to say when.
In an interview on October 14 with the director, Afineevsky was asked if he realised that Francis's comments were going to grab headlines.
He did not respond to questions about the origin of the quote but said he hoped journalists would take more away from the film.
He said: 'If journalists will be focusing on this movie only on that, then it will be a pity.
'But I think that's one of the issues that our world needs to understand, that we're all equal.'
The Catholic Church teaches that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect but that homosexual acts are 'intrinsically disordered.'
A 2003 document from the Vatican's doctrine office stated the church's respect for gay people 'cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.'
Doing so, the Vatican reasoned, would not only condone 'deviant behaviour,' but create an equivalence to marriage, which the church holds is an indissoluble union between man and woman.
Afineevsky, who is gay, had expressed surprise after the premiere that the Pope's comments had created such a stir.
Pope Francis, center, makes the sign of the cross during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican on Wednesday
Director Evgeny Afineevsky, left, and clergy sex abuse survivor and victim's advocate Juan Carlos Cruz, attend the photo call for the movie 'Francesco' at the Rome Film Festival, in Rome, on Wednesday
He said Francis was not trying to change doctrine but was merely expressing his belief gay people should enjoy the same rights as heterosexuals.
On Thursday, he declined to take any further questions and sought to put attention on the main issues dealt with in the film: climate change, refugees and poverty.
He said: 'I am so proud that finally Francesco is on its way to the road to change hearts and minds.
'Finally, I am happy that I can bring voices from the Rohingya refugees, refugees from Syria, the voices of victims of sexual abuse, voices from different points from different corners of the world.'
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres (pictured in New York on Wednesday) has welcomed Pope Francis's historic remarks in support of same-sex civil unions
It comes after the UN's Catholic secretary-general praised the Pope's historic comments.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, a devout worshipper from Catholic Portugal, said the papal thumbs-up was 'extremely welcome' after Francis's words sparked cheers from gay Catholics and outrage from conservatives.
'This is a clear demonstration of a fundamental principle, which is the principle of nondiscrimination,' said Guterres in New York.
'And one of the things that has been very clear in the UN doctrine on this is that non-discrimination is also relevant in the questions of sexual orientation.
'So this is decision of the Pope is, of course, extremely welcome from our perspective.'
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