Pope Francis backs same-sex civil unions

Pope Francis has backed civil unions for same-sex couples.

The pontiff made the comments in the documentary film “Francesco,” which was screened at the Rome Film Festival on Wednesday.

“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family,” the pope said. “They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it.”

“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”

The pope added that he “stood up for that,” an apparent reference to when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires and said he supported some legal protections for the rights of same-sex couples.

Last month, the pope reportedly told a group representing the parents of LGBTQI children that “God loves your children as they are” and “the pope loves your children as they are, because they are children of God.”