Papal endorsement of same-sex civil unions 'a revolutionary moment'

The endorsement of same-sex civil unions by Pope Francis last week was both in line with current church teachings and a huge change, says a professor of gender studies.

In a documentary released last week, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church said homosexual people are the children of God and have the right to be in a family.

"This is fully consistent with messages the church has issued around homosexuality for years, to respect the human dignity of gay and lesbian persons," Dalhousie gender studies Prof. Margaret Denike told Island Morning host Mitch Cormier.

But Denike said the explicit endorsement of civil unions is significant.

"What makes this such a remarkable and even revolutionary moment for the Catholic church is the inconsistency between church doctrine, and particularly the doctrine that was reiterated in 2003 that the church has an obligation to oppose same sex marriage or equivalencies to those," she said.

'They're made in the image of God. Continue to love them'

Charlottetown Bishop Richard Grecco said he was not surprised by the statement from Francis, saying the pope has been moving in this direction for some time.

He noted people should not confuse the support for civil unions as support for marriage.

"He's not seeing this as a marriage. He's not changing the church's teaching," said Grecco.

But the statement also confirms the right of LGBT to form relationships, he said, and this will make a big difference within many Roman Catholic families. There have been some difficult and even tragic consequences when people have come out to their Roman Catholic parents, and then those parents have rejected them, he said.

"It advises priests to say, look, you can disagree with what your children are doing. We disagree all the time in families on matters of marriage, on matters of politics, and yet you continue to love them," said Grecco.

"They're made in the image of God. Continue to love them. That's your job as parents."

Civil unions are important in providing basic rights for people in society, he said.

"If you're going to bring love, and you're going to bring happiness, and you're going to bring dignity," he said, "we shouldn't be trying to make people's lives miserable by opposing things like civil unions."

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