Pope Francis has once again confirmed his stance on marriage equality, which remains a staunch “no.”
Francis was asked during a Wednesday press briefing about his stance on same-sex unions and replied that the question had already been answered. “I have spoken clearly about this, no?” he said in comments reported by the Associated Press, adding: “Marriage is a sacrament. The church doesn’t have the power to change sacraments. It’s as our Lord established.”
Referring to civil unions, Francis said that laws that “try to help the situation” for LGBTQ+ people are important. He asserted, however, that legal recognition for same-sex couples should not impose “things that by nature do not function in the church.”
“If they want to spend their lives together, a homosexual couple, nations have the possibility civilly to support them, to give them safety with regards to inheritance and health,” he said.
On the subject of civil unions, Francis suggested that widening the scope of who can receive partner benefits could benefit many groups of people. Confusingly, he offered a hypothetical example of “three widows who want to partner through a law to have health care and then share the inheritance” and affirmed that “you can do these things” with civil unions in place. It’s unclear to what law the Pope may be referring, as polygamy is illegal in the vast majority of countries.
While maintaining that “marriage is marriage,” Francis concluded that he does not advocate for “condemning” individuals because of their sexual orientation. He stated that queer people are “our brothers and sisters.”
None of these opinions are surprising for a Pope who has been widely hailed as progressive even while making often contradictory statements on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. Earlier this year, the Vatican reiterated its position that same-sex marriages are a “sin” in a statement released as part of its daily news bulletin. The Catholic Church’s governing body added that queer people cannot be blessed in the faith unless they are single and celibate.
“There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family,” the statement read.
Striking a similar tone as Francis’ recent comments, the bulletin went onto say that the church’s position is “not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination.” The Vatican claimed that its views are inherent to the “truth of the liturgical rite and of the very nature of the sacramentals.”
The Catholic Church’s recent record on LGBTQ+ issues remains extremely mixed, both in the United States and abroad. A March report alleged that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCS) opposed a congressional bill establishing 988 as the National Suicide Prevention Hotline because it contained funding for LGBTQ+ support services. The USCCB has also opposed the Equality Act and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
In Italy, the Vatican has been a leading opponent of a landmark hate crimes bill that would extend protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Catholic leaders claim the legislation would stifle religious freedoms, according to the BBC.
Many see incremental progress, though, in Pope Francis’ qualified support for LGBTQ+ equality. Last October, Francis made international headlines by backing civil unions during an interview recorded for the documentary Francesco, but he actually came out for limited relationship recognition for same-sex couples in 2010. At the time, Francis’ home country of Argentina had legalized full marriage equality.
Although civil unions confer some benefits of marriage, advocates claim it is akin to second-class status. A 2009 report from Australian Marriage Equality, which led the country’s successful same-sex marriage campaign, found that civil unions “create many problems in daily life, lead to forced outing, and reinforce stigma and discrimination.”
But while Francis has urged the Catholic Church to soften its rhetoric on the LGBTQ+ community, he has come under fire for some of his own extreme views. The pope has accused transgender people of launching a “world war against marriage” and likened “gender theory” to a form of “ideological colonization.” He has also likened accepting and affirming trans identities to both mass murder and a nuclear holocaust.
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