Vatican says documentary took Pope Francis' civil union remarks out of context

Pope Francis waves to worshipers at the end of the weekly general audience on April 3, 2019 at St. Peter's square in the Vatican.
(Image credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

After reports emerged that Pope Francis made some highly significant comments about civil union laws for same-sex couples in a new documentary, the Vatican says he was taken out of context.

Francis was recently reported to have backed civil union laws for same-sex couples in the documentary Francesco, breaking from the Vatican's stance on the issue. Following these reports, the Vatican's Secretariat of State sent out a note last week to ambassadors seeking to explain the comments, Reuters reported on Monday. This note reportedly states that that the documentary spliced together two separate quotes from Francis and created "confusion," also clarifying that the remarks don't indicate a change in Church doctrine.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.