Before he became Pope, Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio was among the first Catholic Church officials to back gay civil unions.
He wasn’t going soft on the church’s long opposition to homosexuality, but merely offering a compromise in hopes of defeating Argentina’s proposed same-sex marriage law in 2010.
Francis’ biographer, Sergio Rubin, said Bergoglio urged Argentina’s bishops to back civil unions because he knew the church couldn’t win a straight-on fight against gay marriage.
The bishops balked, and gay marriage was legalized. But some activists see signs of hope.
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“Maybe the fact the Vatican has chosen a Pope from a country where gay marriage is allowed is a sign that they get it?” tweeted Alex Freyre, Buenos Aires AIDS Foundation executive director.
Others are less sure. “He’s ‘open’ to social themes, but he’s a clear fundamentalist in . . . the church’s position on sexual diversity,” said Argentine activist Esteban Paulon.
With News Wire Services