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Discussion: Pope Francis Supports Gay Unions
Member Since: 9/7/2011
Posts: 8,226
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Pope Francis Supports Gay Unions
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Buenos Aires (CNN) -- Less than an hour after he fired off an angry letter to Catholic Church leaders about their handling of Argentina's same-sex marriage debate, Marcelo Marquez says his phone rang.
He was surprised to hear the voice on the other end of the line. It was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, then the archbishop of Buenos Aires, and now the pope.
What Bergoglio said to him at a meeting soon afterward that year, 2010, was even more surprising, Marquez said.
For months, church officials had made sharp, public criticisms of the push to legalize same-sex marriage in the South American country. But privately, Bergoglio seemed to be more open to discussion, according to Marquez. "He told me. ... 'I'm in favor of gay rights and in any case, I also favor civil unions for homosexuals, but I believe that Argentina is not yet ready for a gay marriage law,'" said Marquez, a gay rights activist, a self-described devout Catholic and a former theology professor at a Catholic seminary.
As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio was one of the leaders of the Catholic Church's public charge against legalizing same-sex marriage in Argentina. He engaged in a notorious war of words with the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who supported the measure.
Bergoglio put himself in the middle of the fight, calling the proposed legislation "a destructive attack on God's plan."
With a front-page counterpunch, the president said the church possessed "attitudes reminiscent of medieval times and the Inquisition."
Some point to the public battle as evidence of the traditionalist views of Bergoglio.
But behind closed doors, Marquez said, the man who would become pope appeared to be more open to discussion of the issue.
In another meeting, Bergoglio told him he had always treated gay people with respect and dignity. "I have accompanied many homosexual people during my career to tend to their spiritual needs," Bergoglio said at the time, according to Marquez.
Bergoglio, who chose the name Pope Francis after he was elected pontiff last week, may have voiced his support for civil unions in other circles.
Andres Albertsen, a former pastor of the Danish Church in Buenos Aires, said Bergoglio made similar comments about civil unions to him in a private meeting.
"In this conversation that we had, he showed himself to be very open, very frank with me," Albertsen told CNN en Espaņol on Wednesday. "He told me that he would have accepted a civil union."
According to a story published by The New York Times on Wednesday, Bergoglio also told bishops at a 2010 meeting that the church should support civil unions for gay couples.
CNN could not independently confirm the details of the Argentine bishops' meeting, which was also described in a July 2010 article published by Argentina's Clarin newspaper.
"Bergoglio -- faithful to his moderate position -- proposed continuing measured actions. ... He would suggest, also, that the church discreetly accept the intermediate alternative of the civil union -- authorizing a series of rights (inheritance, social work) -- that would not equate to marriage nor permit adoption," wrote journalist Sergio Rubin -- now Bergoglio's biographer.
But that proposal was rejected by bishops, who voted instead to begin a high-profile, public battle against same-sex marriage, Rubin wrote.
A senior Vatican official said he could neither confirm nor deny The New York Times report at this point, adding that while Pope Francis might have expressed such a view while he was a cardinal, he should be given time to develop his policy position as pontiff.
Alejandro Russo, the rector of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, said it was unlikely the pope had ever expressed such a view, even in private.
In 2007, Bergoglio publicly criticized Buenos Aires' government for allowing civil unions, Russo said. His relationship with the mayor of Buenos Aires soured over the matter.
Argentina approved a law legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide in July 2010.
Even though Bergoglio was one of the law's most well known opponents, Marquez said on Wednesday that he hopes the pontiff will remain open to discussion, just as he appeared to be several years ago in Buenos Aires.
"We are going to try to have a dialogue with the pope," said Marquez, who works for Argentina's National Institute Against Discrimination. "It's frightening, but I think it must be done."
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http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/20/world/...html?hpt=hp_c1
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Member Since: 3/7/2011
Posts: 19,696
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Can you bold the main parts please 
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Member Since: 4/26/2007
Posts: 15,585
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Member Since: 10/1/2011
Posts: 33,423
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How can he be the pope but support this 
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Member Since: 4/21/2011
Posts: 42,362
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Cool.
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Member Since: 9/7/2011
Posts: 8,226
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Quote:
Originally posted by Yourfavefan
Can you bold the main parts please |
Ok I'll try, I'm watching a basketball game and I got lazy.
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Member Since: 6/28/2010
Posts: 7,399
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Can you enlarge and underline the key points?
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Member Since: 4/21/2011
Posts: 42,362
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Quote:
Originally posted by jayyyxtee
How can he be the pope but support this |
God makes no mistake, he is the first Pope to understand that apparently.
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Member Since: 5/17/2010
Posts: 21,708
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Keep in mind, civil unions and legal marriage are two different things.
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Member Since: 12/27/2011
Posts: 20,704
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Eh, supporting gay marriage would be a lot better but this is still a step in the right direction. 
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Member Since: 11/23/2011
Posts: 2,524
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Gaga her influence
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Member Since: 5/2/2012
Posts: 9,905
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Member Since: 8/29/2012
Posts: 2,594
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Quote:
Originally posted by H-I-M
Cool.
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the gif 
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 613
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sorry, I don't want to read through the whole thing but isnt it saying he supports civil unions, not same-sex marriage? aint nobody got time for that
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Member Since: 9/7/2011
Posts: 8,226
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Quote:
Originally posted by primo.
Keep in mind, civil unions and legal marriage are two different things.
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Correct. And that's because the Church has its own meaning for marriage in the Church, but at least his attitude toward gay unions is a step in the right direction.
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Member Since: 9/1/2012
Posts: 2,748
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Erm, well if you read the article it actually claims that a few people (including a gay rights activist) claim that he privately claimed he supported such unions many years ago, but these claims cannot be independently verified by the media and many doubt whether it's true or not..
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Member Since: 10/30/2011
Posts: 10,415
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This is borderline hearsay. I'll wait to hear it from his mouth.
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Member Since: 9/7/2011
Posts: 8,226
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Quote:
Originally posted by WohOhOh
sorry, I don't want to read through the whole thing but isnt it saying he supports civil unions, not same-sex marriage? aint nobody got time for that
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Same sex union and same sex marriage outside of the Church is the same. I've mentioned many times on this forum that marriage in the Church has a completely different meaning.
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Member Since: 4/6/2011
Posts: 31,849
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Quote:
Originally posted by jayyyxtee
How can he be the pope but support this |
Did u read the article? He's probably talked to so many gay people and heard all the torture they go through.
Maybe he feels like they deserve to be happy too?
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Member Since: 5/31/2008
Posts: 11,688
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Good! 
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