by Kilian Melloy EDGE Staff Reporter
The Catholic church’s top-ranking cardinal in Mexico, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar, said that he and Pope Francis «completely agree» when it comes to rights for gay and lesbian families, reports the New York Daily News.
«If they decide as a matter of free choice to be with another person, to be in a union, that’s freedom,» Cardinal Aguiar said, going on to add: «And that’s what Pope Francis said, everyone has the right to family.»
That advocacy for families headed by two men or two women falls short of an endorsement of full marriage equality, however, as Francis has only expressed support for «civil unions,» as has Aguiar.
Cardinal Aguiar is «the archbishop of Mexico City and a longtime ally of the Holy Father,» noted the New York Daily News, going on to recall the sensation that a documentary about Francis caused earlier this fall. That film included an interview with the pontiff in which he made the supportive remarks about families headed by same-sex couples.
The film, «Francesco,» debuted at the Rome Film Festival this past October. The interview in question showed Pope Francis saying, «Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They are children of God and have a right to a family.»
Francis added: «What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.»
Anti-LGBTQ religious hardliners immediately launched criticisms of the Pope’s words and took note that some of his comments in the film were derived from unused portions of an interview with a Mexican television outlet.
But Aguiar’s words lend fresh weight to Francis’ declaration.
«I completely agree,» the cardinal said earlier this week, commenting on Francis’ remarks, according to Reuters. «All of us are children of God, all are members of the family, and if we’re fighting so that families are united, regardless of their conduct, they don’t stop being our children.»
Aguiar warned that families with gay children ought not shut those children out, noting that sometimes, if «a son in a family declares himself openly homosexual, then they don’t want to have anything to do with him.
«And that can’t be, it just can’t be,» Aguiar stressed.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network’s Assistant Arts Editor. He also reviews theater for WBUR. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association’s Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
