Pope Francis on "Convivencia Civil" and a Movie called "Francesco". Is there a Change in Catholic Church Teaching on Same-Sex Unions?

Contents

Introduction

1. Talking Points on Francis and Same Sex Unions Part I

2. Breaking News

3. Talking Points on Francis and Same-Sex Unions Part II

4. Once the Ecclesial Tsunami is Over

5. But What has Pope Francis said about Homosexuality in the Past?

6. The Teaching of the Catholic Church on Same-Sex Couples

7. Has Anything Changed?

Conclusion

Endnotes

Introduction

On the morning of 22 October 2020, I opened a WhatsApp social media platform post by one of my work colleagues to the effect that Pope Francis had endorsed same-sex civil unions. The news had already been doing the rounds some 24 hours. I just wondered how I had missed it. This was a bombshell, a tsunami, a Pandora’s Box, a can of worms — feel free to chuck in even your worst doomsday apocalyptic metaphor or nightmare. Another colleague quickly threw the proverbial gauntlet and asked for a comment from the Religious Studies Education Department of the university. As the elder statesman of the department, this was irresistible red meat to a theological carnivore like me. So, I promptly posted a response promising to look into it but regretted that the post did not indicate the source but which in 2 minutes I quickly found and posted.ⁱ I immediately emailed some Catholic theologian friends the following message.

“I woke up with a theological bombshell on my WhatsApp: that the Pope had endorsed same-sex civil unions. I am sharing some linksⁱⁱ on the subject as I know this news is red meat for both the anti-Catholic and the anti-Pope Francis. You might have to answer queries from the Press” (Email, 22 October 2020). 48 hours later, when I googled “Pope Francis + civil unions + endorsement,” it yielded some 24,400,000 results in 0.56 seconds in English alone. I have since expanded that search to the Pope’s vernacular language, Spanish [ Papa Francisco + uniones civiles + aprobación ] but the results were much fewer — about 605,000 results in 0.48 seconds.

This article expands and justifies my view that the Pope does not say anything new nor has he re-written Catholic moral and sacramental theology on homosexuality and same-sex partnerships. I ask two questions: Does the Pope’s endorsement of same-sex unions signify a change in the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage and homosexuality? What has Pope Francis said about same-sex unions in the past? Surprisingly, the answers to both questions are fairly straightforward. Marriage is still a covenant between a man and a woman — a relationship which is open to the generation of new life. Same sex partnerships or unions cannot be put in the same basket. The Pope suggests instead, the legal recognition of what he calls “Convivencia civil” picked up and translated as “civil union” by the Press.

The teaching of the Catholic Church on marriage and same-sex civil unions is unlikely to change any time soon. As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio opposed the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Argentina in 2010. As Monsignor Víctor Manuel Fernández explained, “lo que ha dicho el Papa sobre este tema es lo que sostenía también cuando era el Arzobispo de Buenos Aires” [what the Pope has said on this subject is what he also maintained when he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires].ⁱⁱⁱ The future Pope Francis was already proposing to the Conferencia Episcopal Argentina (CEA), as a lesser of two evils but ultimately without success, if I might add, what is now making news 10 years later, thanks to the movie Francesco — civil union or same-sex partnerships. As the Pope would say, “nada ha cambiado” [nothing has changed] substantially. What has changed is the pastoral approach both to civil law and to gay couples as well as some of the homophobic language of yester-year, particularly associated with the 2003 statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under the leadership of Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI. But first, three talking points to be expanded a little later.

1. Talking Points on Francis and Same Sex Unions Part I

Does this recent opinion by Pope Francis signify a change in the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church on the sacrament of Matrimony and homosexual partnerships? The very short answer is no. What the Pope is alleged to have said is not in an encyclical, an apostolic exhortation, an apostolic decree, a Motu proprio, a decretal etc., where we would expect such change to be expressed and immortalised for posterity. In his recent remarks on civil unions the Pope is expressing an opinion. It appears to me that he is unwittingly trying out the remarks for size as well as general pastoral climate although we have now learnt that the remarks may originally come from a May 2019 interview with a Mexican network Televisa.

How would the Pope square this with the constant teaching of the Catholic Church on both Matrimony and homosexual partnerships? The short answer is, with great difficulty. I think he will try to distinguish between moral/canonical/sacramental teaching, which is constant and some might say, immutable and pastoral solicitude or cura animarum and approach to people in same-sex partnerships, which most people would say is subject to change. This clarification is bound to come in the next few weeks and months. Forced to choose between same-sex marriage and civil unions, he is clearly voting for what to him may be the lesser “evil,” the latter. Part of the clarification will include the connection between the Televisa interview and the documentary Francesco.

Where can you find the official position of Pope Francis on the subject of same-sex partnerships? I think Amoris Laetitia ^iv may be a good start, especially par 250‒251 but first, what is the breaking news of this pontificate in his 7 years at the helm?

2. Breaking News

But first, here is how Christian Broadcasting Service, among many English media, broke the news on CBS Evening News anchored by Norah O’Donnell, “Tonight the stunning news in a major departure from his predecessors, Pope Francis is signalling that he supports same-sex civil unions.” This was followed by a report by Seth Doane, reporting from Rome in which he cites from an interview for the movie Francesco by Evgeny Afineevsky, the Russian-born film director, producer and cinematographer who lives in the United States. In an interview for the documentary, the Pope says that “homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. What we have to create is a civil union law.”^v The original expression used in the Spanish is convivencia civil. But as Monsignor Víctor Manuel Fernández, Archbishop of La Plata in Argentina and theological advisor to Pope Francis explained, the terms “convivencia civil” y “unión civil” son el mismo reconocimiento legal para “uniones muy estrechas entre personas del mismo sexo” [“civil coexistence” and “civil union” are the same legal recognition for “very close unions between people of the same sex].^vi The only caveat is that neither are on a par with same-sex marriage which Pope Francis opposed in Argentina in 2010.

My immediate reaction was, wow. This was a declaration of war on the part of the Roman Pontiff who had decided to pronounce on this sacred cow. Many of his followers will remember how he bottled it, when at the end of the Amazonian Synod in 2019 he was expected to rule on whether viri probati, married men could be ordained to the Catholic priesthood and he did not even as much as mention the issue in his post-Synodal Apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. But here he is, presumably, without the support of a Synod, expressing his views on this litmus paper of a theological time bomb. I am personally anticipating nothing short of the equivalent of a Molotov from his arch-nemesis Carlo Maria Viganò or the Vatican deep state, especially from Cardinal Raymond Burke.

I spoke to soon. The arch-nemesis of Pope Francis, Carlo Maria Viganò has already spoken but his Molotov failed to go off. I was so focussed on English media I had forgotten his preferred medium is Italian and for that he uses arch-conservative Catholic journalist Aldo Maria Valli who acts as his megaphone. Carlo Maria Viganò writes on the latter’s blog entitling his response, “Dopo le parole di Bergoglio sulle unioni civili / Monsignor Viganò: Non cadiamo in questo inganno !” [After Bergoglio’s words on civil unions/Monsignor Viganò: Let’s not fall into this deception]. There is not much worth citing but here is a sample spouting from the disgruntled former papal diplomat, first my translation followed by the original Italian. “It seems that Bergoglio is boldly trying to ‘up the ante’ in a crescendo of heretical affirmations, so as to force the healthy part of the Church — episcopate, clergy and faithful — to accuse him of heresy, and then declare it schismatic and ‘enemy of the pope’” [ Pare che Bergoglio cerchi sfrontatamente di ‘alzare la posta’ in un crescendo di affermazioni eretiche, in modo da costringere la parte sana della Chiesa — episcopato, clero e fedeli — ad accusarlo di eresia, per poi dichiararla scismatica e ‘ nemica del papa ’].^vii

Notice how Carlo Maria Viganò refers to Pope Francis by his given names to suggest that he does not recognise his papacy. He refers to people who support Pope Francis as the “deep Church.” Ironically, they would consider his criticism of Pope Francis as typical of the “deep Church.” His views of the “deep Church” and “deep state” are best left without comment. “Bergoglio would therefore not only have on his side the ‘deep Church’ represented by rebels like Father James Martin, SJ and the exponents of the German ‘synodal path,’ but also the ‘deep state.’ Not surprisingly, the documentary also features an endorsement for the Democratic candidate in the upcoming US presidential elections, along with a disconcerting condemnation of the Trump administration’s policy, accused of separating families who try to enter the United States illegally, while in fact the president is addressing human trafficking and child trafficking” [ Bergoglio avrebbe quindi dalla sua parte non solo la “deep Church” rappresentata dai ribelli come padre James Martin, SJ e gli esponenti del “synodal path” tedesco, ma anche il “deep state.” Non a caso, nel documentario vi è anche un endorsement per il candidato democratico alle prossime elezioni presidenziali americane, assieme ad una sconcertante condanna della politica dell’amministrazione Trump, accusato di separare le famiglie che cercano di entrare illegalmente negli Stati Uniti, mentre di fatto il presidente sta fronteggiando la tratta di esseri umani e il traffico di minori ].^viii

The best I can say in defence of Carlo Maria Viganò is that he is a pass master at doctoring facts, including lauding the Trump administration for “addressing human trafficking and child trafficking” with whom he shares a penchant for conspiracy theories and the deep state. It is no secret that Pope Francis is no fan of Donald Trump. I am just not sure how the documentary’s “endorsement for the Democratic candidate in the upcoming US presidential elections” could be laid at the door of Pope Francis or where the evidence for this can be found. As head of state, I doubt whether Pope Francis would be so politically foolhardy to endorse a candidate of a country with whom he has diplomatic relations.

I have not seen the movie Francesco to comment directly on Carlo Maria Viganò’s claim of the “disconcerting condemnation of the Trump administration” claimed above but it is no secret that Pope Francis and Donald Trump are not exactly birds of a feather. On 28 May 2019, Valentina Alazraki of the Mexican media Televisa asked Pope Francis a leading question, “If President Trump were sitting here, instead of me being here, as you know me, and there were no cameras, what would you say to him?” [ Si en lugar de estar yo aquí, que usted me conoce, estuviera sentado el presidente Trump, y no hubiera cámaras, ¿ qué le diría ?].^ix His response was quintessential Francis, straight from the heart.

“The same. The same, because I say this in public, eh! I have said it in public. I also said in public that whoever builds walls ends up a prisoner of the walls they build. Instead, whoever builds bridges fraternises, shakes hands, even if they stay on the other side. But there is dialogue, right? And the territory can be perfectly defended with a bridge, not necessarily with a wall. I’m talking about political bridges or cultural bridges, right? We are not going to make a bridge across all borders, are we? It is impossible” [ Lo mismo. Lo mismo, porque esto lo digo en público ¡ eh ! Lo he dicho en público. También dije en público que quien construye muros termina prisionero de los muros que construye. En vez quien construye puentes fraterniza, da la mano, aunque se quede del otro lado. Pero hay dialogo ¿ no ? Y se puede defender el territorio perfectamente con un puente. No necesariamente con un muro. Hablo de puentes políticos, de puentes culturales ¿ no es cierto ? No vamos a hacer un puente en todas las fronteras ¿ no ? Es imposible ].^x

Cardinal Raymond Burke has also spoken about the papal same-sex union statement. Within the second paragraph of his “Statement on the Declarations of Pope Francis Regarding Civil Unions,” he makes his view very clear. “Such declarations generate great bewilderment and cause confusion and error among Catholic faithful, inasmuch as they are contrary to the teaching of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and of the recent Magisterium by which the Church guards, protects and interprets the whole deposit of faith contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. They cause wonderment and error regarding the Church’s teaching among people of good will, who sincerely wish to know what the Catholic Church teaches. They impose upon pastors of souls the duty of conscience to make fitting and necessary clarifications.”^xi

Cardinal Raymond Burke, who is a Canon Lawyer, then launches into a scriptural and Magisterial foray explaining why “ Such declarations generate great bewilderment and cause confusion and error among Catholic faithful, inasmuch as they are contrary to the teaching of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and of the recent Magisterium by which the Church guards, protects and interprets the whole deposit of faith.”^xii The thankfully short statement concludes that “It is a source of deepest sadness and pressing pastoral concern that the private opinions reported with so much emphasis by the press and attributed to Pope Francis do not correspond to the constant teaching of the Church, as it is expressed in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and is guarded, protected and interpreted by the Magisterium. Equally sad and concerning is the turmoil, confusion, and error they cause among the Catholic faithful, as is the scandal they cause, in general, by giving the totally false impression that the Catholic Church has had a change of course, that is, has changed its perennial teaching regarding such fundamental and critical questions.”^xiii

There is so much that is wrong in Raymond Burke’s analysis that we would be debating them until the proverbial cows come home. Suffice it to say that for a Canon Lawyer, he gravely misunderstands the Pope’s words as representing the teaching of the Magisterium. I am not even sure he saw the movie or read the comments in their original Spanish. Like my undergraduate students, he was quite happy to cut and paste what was reported in the press and to throw the book at the man who wrote it. He lives in Rome for crying out loud and could have requested footage of the original interview from Paolo Nusiner, Director of the Secretariat for Communication at the Vatican or even from Andrea Tornielli, Director of the Editorial Directorate. Like Carlo Maria Viganò, apart from being an arch-conservative, there is something of sour grapes in the 72-year-old Raymond Burke. Having been raised to the position of the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura by Benedict XVI from June 2008 until November 2014, he was expecting to keep climbing, but Pope Francis demoted him. He now serves as a rank-and-file member of the dicastery he used to head. My talking points Part II below answer his objections.

3. Talking Points on Francis and Same-Sex Unions Part II

Does this signify a substantial change in the teaching of the Catholic Church on the sacrament of Matrimony and the morality of same-sex partnerships? But first, what exactly has the Pope said? With a hint of hyperbole, Time Magazine reported that “Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pontiff while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary ‘Francesco,’ which premiered Wednesday [21 October 2020] at the Rome Film Festival.” This is not quite accurate. Although effectively the same as “civil union,” the Pope used a more generic “Convivencia civil.” This was not the first time he was expressing this view. There have been enough hints that his approach is different from his predecessors. As the Vaticanist Vania de Luca commented, “Desde el inicio del pontificado el papa ha hablado de respeto hacia los homosexuales y ha estado en contra de su discriminación. La novedad hoy es que defienda como Papa una ley para las uniones civiles” [Since the beginning of his pontificate, the Pope has spoken of respect for homosexuals and has been against their discrimination. The novelty today is that he defends as Pope a law for civil unions].^xiv

The Time Magazine report cited above goes on to cite the Pope saying that, “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said in one of his sit-down interviews for the film. “You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law [ ley de convivencia civil ]; that way they are legally covered” [ Las personas homosexuales tienen derecho a estar en la familia. Son hijos de Dios. No se puede echar de la familia a nadie, ni hacer la vida imposible por eso. Lo que tenemos que hacer es una ley de convivencia civil. Tienen derecho a estar cubiertos legalmente ].^xv Since my graduate studies in biblical studies (1989‒1993), I spend a lot of time parsing narratives. Without the benefit of the entire movie Francesco or the original unedited Televisa interview — I have only read the edited version by Valentina Alazraki — here is what I understand the Pope saying, keeping the Spanish original in mind. The reported words are heavily redacted. My suspicion is that when the Pope speaks about “Homosexual people” having “the right to be in a family” he may be thinking primarily of children. I also think “the right to be in a family” is the same and is not the equivalent of founding a family enshrined in the Universal declaration of human rights but the protection of families where homosexuality is an issue. It is a pastoral olive branch about making gay people feel being a child of God, a member of a family, whether nuclear or extended as a son, daughter, uncle, grand uncle or even parent or grandparent.

At this point it would be premature to ask how parenthood, fatherhood or motherhood would be achieved or even had been achieved. Pope Francis’ thread through all this is that homosexual people “are children of God.” All this is par for the course of Church teaching but the shift lies in the language of welcome, acceptance and legal protection. But by far the seismic shift is the endorsement of “Convivencia civil,” with emphasis on civil. Nothing is said about same-sex marriage or civil union being given the sacramental green card in the Church. It is a fact that many countries have already legalised civil partnerships and same-sex marriages. What the Pope is saying is, let’s go with civil unions, regardless of our doctrinal, moral, canonical or sacramental beliefs. If only, it’s the lesser of two “evils” using evil rather loosely. The short answer is that nothing has changed on all these fronts. What the Pope is alleged to have said is not in an encyclical, an apostolic exhortation, an apostolic decree etc., as noted above, where we would expect such change to be carried. The Pope is expressing an opinion and a very strong one at that. He may even be trying it out for size and popular reception, although as we have seen these remarks are more than a year old. But his Pandora’s box will continue to be scrutinised and we haven’t heard the last of it. In the short term, I expect a clarification by Andrea Tornielli, Director of the Editorial Directorate of the dicastery of Communications.

How would the Pope square his opinion vis-à-vis the constant teaching of the Catholic Church on both Matrimony and same-sex partnerships? There is no doubt the Pope will have a second, and a third etc. bite at the cherry. This would not be a bad topic for the 2022 Synod of Bishops on Synodality. In the meantime, the Vatican theological mill, especially the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, may already be preparing “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons 2.0” or its new Avatar. Part of the Congregation’s explanation will be a reference to Amoris Laetitia (par 250‒251) with a full explanation. The Congregation or the Pope will have to walk the tightrope of “nothing has changed but the packaging is different” which is less homophobic and more user-friendly. The short answer is therefore, Pope Francis will square this circle with great difficulty. I think he would want to distinguish between moral/sacramental/canonical teaching, which he will argue is constant and some might say, immutable and pastoral care or cura animarum or approach to people in same-sex partnerships, which most people would say is subject to change as we have noted above.

[...]

ⁱ CBS News, 22 October 2020, “Pope Francis endorses same-sex civil unions for the first time as pontiff,” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-endorses-same-sex-civil-unions/, accessed on 24.10.2020

ⁱⁱ Ibid

ⁱⁱⁱ Agencia Católica de Informaciones — ACI Prensa [Press], 22 October 2020, “Convivencia y unión civil son lo mismo para el Papa, explica arzobispo asesor de Francisco,” https://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/convivencia-y-union-civil-son-lo-mismo-para-el-papa-explica-arzobispo-asesor-de-francisco-20110, accessed on 23.10.2020

^iv https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf (accessed on 22.10.2020)

^v Seth Doane, 21 October 2020, “Pope Francis endorses same-sex civil unions for the first time as pontiff,” CBS Evening News, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-civil-unions-same-sex-endorsement/, accessed on 22.10.2020

^vi Agencia Católica de Informaciones — ACI Prensa [Press], 22 October 2020, “Convivencia y unión civil son lo mismo para el Papa, explica arzobispo asesor de Francisco,” https://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/convivencia-y-union-civil-son-lo-mismo-para-el-papa-explica-arzobispo-asesor-de-francisco-20110, accessed on 23.10.2020. Translation mine

^vii Carlo Maria Viganò, 21 October 2020, “Dopo le parole di Bergoglio sulle unioni civili / Monsignor Viganò: Non cadiamo in questo inganno!” https://www.aldomariavalli.it/2020/10/21/dopo-le-parole-di-bergoglio-sulle-unioni-civili-monsignor-vigano-non-cadiamo-in-questo-inganno/, accessed on 22.10.2020

^viii Ibid

^ix Pope Francis, 28 May 2019, “En primicia el Papa en Televisa: El mundo sin la mujer no funciona,” Vatican News, https://www.vaticannews.va/es/papa/news/2019-05/papa-francisco-entrevista-televisa-mexicomigrantesfeminicidio.html?fbclid=IwAR06jR0AD5lFGlWl1gs1IFslrySx7WE4Ma6TaSKyXNEWyTX_4pFcvrlD3xc, accessed on 24.10.2020

^x Ibid

^xi Raymond Burke, 22 October 2020, “Statement on the Declarations of Pope Francis Regarding Civil Unions,” https://www.cardinalburke.com/presentations/statement-pope-francis-civil-unions?fbclid=IwAR36r5CtI44QIABxS5bvWbAkj5BVPxYpRTb5bz6qvN0FOL5NRzUqKU1zQV4, accessed on 24.10.2020

^xii Ibid

^xiii Ibid

^xiv El Mundo, 22 October 2020, “Los espinosos debates que alienta el papa Francisco,” https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/el-mundo/homosexuales-divorciados-y-otros-espinosos-debates-que-alienta-el-papa-francisco/, accessed on 23.10.2020

^xv The original Spanish is taken from: Agencia Católica de Informaciones — ACI Prensa [Press], 22 October 2020, “Convivencia y unión civil son lo mismo para el Papa, explica arzobispo asesor de Francisco,” https://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/convivencia-y-union-civil-son-lo-mismo-para-el-papa-explica-arzobispo-asesor-de-francisco-20110, accessed on 23.10.2020