Vatican Backtracks Pope's Same-Sex Marriage Comments

After Pope Francis made headlines last week for making comments that appeared to support same-sex marriage in a recently released documentary, the Vatican is intervening, claiming the Pope’s comments were taken out of context.

In a letter sent from the Vatican last week to papal representatives worldwide, the Vatican claimed two comments made by the Pope in the film Francesco were taken out of context, leading to “confusion,” CNN reported.

“More than a year ago, during an interview, Pope Francis answered two different questions at two different times that, in the aforementioned documentary, were edited and published as a single answer without the proper contextualization, which has led to confusion,” reads the letter.

In the film, Pope Francis can be heard calling for “a civil-union law,” which many took as support for same-sex marriage. According to the Vatican’s clarification, however, the Pope’s comments were actually made in reference to his opposition to a same-sex marriage law in Argentina ten years ago, when the Pope served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Then, the Vatican claims, the Pope “had spoken about the rights of these people to have certain legal protection,” but not same-sex marriage.

“It is clear that Pope Francis was referring to certain provisions made by states, and certainly not to the doctrine of the Church, which he has reaffirmed numerous times over the years,” the letter says.

The letter also seeks to clarify comments Pope Francis made about same-sex couples and families. In the film, the Pope is quoted as saying: “Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family,” which many interpreted as support for same-sex couples raising families of their own. According to the Vatican, however, the Pope was actually speaking about discrimination against LGBTQ individuals by their own families, stating, “a son or daughter with a homosexual orientation should never be discriminated against within the family.”