Vatican denies Pope is open to recognition of gay civil unions

January 06, 2014 - The Vatican on Sunday denied Italian media reports that recent comments by Pope Francis signalled his openness to the legal recognition of same-sex unions in Italy. In a conversation with superiors general, Nov. 29, which was published on Friday by the Jesuit journal, “La Civiltà Cattolica”, the Pope said the Catholic Church had to try not to scare away children who live in complex family situations, such as those whose parents were separated and those living with gay couples. The Argentine Pope gave the example of a little girl in Buenos Aires, his former diocese, who confided to her teacher the reason she was always sad was that "my mother's girlfriend doesn't like me". The pope told the leaders of religious orders that a great challenge for the Church would be to reach out to children living in difficult or unorthodox domestic situations. "The situation in which we live now provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand," the pope said, according to the transcript of the conversation. "How can we proclaim Christ to these boys and girls? How can we proclaim Christ to a generation that is changing? We must be careful not to administer a vaccine against faith to them," he said. Italian media on Sunday ran headlines saying the pope's words were an opening to legal provision for civil unions for gay couples, a subject of debate in Italy. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio that media interpretations were "paradoxical" and a "manipulation" of the pope's words, particularly as some media quoted him as speaking specifically of homosexual unions, which he did not. The Jesuit priest said the Pope was merely "alluding to the suffering of children" and not taking a stand on the political debate in Italy. (Source: Reuter)