RICHMOND, Va. -- Pope Francis created a buzz across the world Wednesday after a documentary about his life debuted in Rome. In it, the pope reportedly broke from the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church by calling for the creation of civil union laws in support of same-sex couples.
"Homosexual people have the right to be in a family," the pope said during an interview in the documentary."They are children of God.... You can't kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this."
VCU freshman Peter Nunz, who is Catholic, said the pope's words could have not come at a better time.
“I think Pope Francis made a really great move and accepting all the people around," Nunz said. "He’s not telling us that what the bible says, he’s telling that what people should feel, they should not feel excluded or something because they are part of this society."
Other VCU students, who are not Catholic, were shocked by the news.
“I definitely don’t think it's conventional for the Catholic Church to promote this kind of idea," student Arnav Ashok said.
But the students we spoke to believe the pope’s words of compassion will help create a better world.
“Sometimes we base our opinions on accepted beliefs rather than the way social times are movement, so this movement is really important. It’s shocking but it’s for the good," Ashok said.
When asked to comment on the pope's stance, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond declined and said they had not seen the documentary nor heard the context in which the pope spoke.
