Pope’s support of gay unions poses challenge for Panama Catholics

The declaration by  Pope Francis in support of civil union laws for same-sex couples, saying that homosexual people have the right to be with each other will pose a challenge for local followers who have demonstrated against same-sex marriage.

“They are children of God and they have the right to have a family. No one can be thrown out of the family, nor can life be made impossible for that, ”Pope Francis is quoted in a new documentary. “What we have to have is a civil union law; in this way, they are legally protected ”.

The comments, in stark contrast to the positions of his predecessors, are likely to provoke controversy among  local Catholics.

The pontiff spoke about same-sex civil unions during an interview with filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky for his documentary Francesco , which premiered in Rome on October 21.

Before being elected pope, Francisco served as archbishop of Buenos Aires and, in that role, advocated for same-sex civil unions in an attempt to block a gay marriage law. However, as pope, he had never publicly spoken in favor of civil unions.

The documentary narrates Pope Francis’ approach to urgent social problems and pastoral ministry among those who live, in the words of the pontiff, “on the existential peripheries.”