In a documentary film that premiered today in Rome, Pope Francis called for the enactment of legislation on civil unions for same-sex couples. In doing so, he departs from the Vatican’s previous position and that of his predecessors.

“Homosexual people have the right to a family. They are children of God and have the right to live in a family,” Pope Francis says in the film “Francesco,” by Evgeny Afineevsky. “What we must create is a law on civil unions. In this way, they will be legally protected. I stood up for this,” Pope Francis explains.

The leader of the Catholic Church still opposes same-sex marriage, but supports civil unions.

You can find details about the film and the pope’s remarks on the website of the American Catholic News Agency https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-calls-for-civil-union-law-for-same-sex-couples-in-shift-from-vatican-stance-12462 (in English) and in a Reuters dispatch https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL8N2HC62P (also in English).

Some rights enjoyed by married couples that same-sex couples do not have:

  • The right to information about a person’s health
  • The right to make decisions about treatment
  • The right to receive the deceased’s remains and arrange a burial
  • The right to statutory inheritance without taxation
  • The right to community property and joint tax filing
  • The right to a caregiver’s allowance to care for a sick husband or wife
  • The right to include a husband or wife in ZUS insurance
  • The right to a survivor’s pension after a deceased husband or wife
  • The right to adopt one’s spouse’s child (the so-called “stepchild adoption”)
  • The right to joint adoption (the so-called “external adoption”)
  • The right to change one’s surname or take a double surname

You can read about marriage equality at: https://mnw.org.pl/zwiazki-partnerskie/