Pope Francis became the first pope to endorse same-sex civil unions midway through the feature length documentary “Francesco,” which features fresh interviews with the pope and delves into issues Francis cares about most. The documentary premiered at the Rome Film Festival on Oct. 21.
“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said. “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; that way they are legally covered.”
However, conservative Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, called for clarification. “The pope’s statement clearly contradicts what has been the long-standing teaching of the church about same-sex unions,” he said in a statement.
Catholic teaching holds that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect but that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.” A 2003 document from the Vatican’s doctrine office stated the church’s respect for gay people “cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.”
Doing so, the Vatican reasoned, would not only condone “deviant behavior,” but create an equivalence to marriage, which the church holds is an indissoluble union between man and woman.
Governor Tim Walz says that the $1.9 billion public works bill he passed into law will improve Minnesota’s infrastructure and ensure that construction crews will keep busy as the economy comes out of recession.
Walz went to an Iron Workers Union training center in St. Paul on Wednesday to give his final approval to the package after the Legislature sent him last week. The bonding bill will fund hundreds of projects across the state.
Walz said it will provide a perfectly timed boost given low interest rates and crews looking for work.
St. Thomas sports have been practicing under COVID-19 guidelines since Sept. 21 after MIAC postponed fall and winter competition.
These guidelines include mandatory screening of players and coaches before each practice and practicing in small pods with masks on. Football trains in pods of 25 or less and soccer trains with 15 or less; indoor sports like basketball and volleyball work with fewer than 10 players at a time.
“We’re thankful that we are able to be out there,” women’s soccer coach Sheila McGill said. “There are a lot of teams that have had things shut down completely, so for us, we’ve been thankful we have not had a COVID case in our team yet.”
The Division III Administrative Committee advised member schools to not compete this fall, the NCAA announced in a statement on Aug. 20.
Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu.