Pope Francis calls for 'legal coverage like everyone else' for same-sex couples

Pope Francis' autobiography, "Life. My Story in History," arrives in bookstores on March 19. The pope tells the main chapters of his personal story, including his experience during the Videla regime and his election as head of the Catholic Church. He also mentions his relationship with Benedict XVI as pope emeritus and insists on his message of support for same-sex couples. In a preview of the book published by the Vatican's official news agency, the pope said, "It is right that these people who live the gift of love can have legal coverage like everyone else."

Pope accuses Videla's dictatorship of executing 'generational genocide'

Despite criticisms within Catholicism, some of which accuse him of "destroying the papacy" or of going against the church on the matter, Pope Francis once again clearly expressed his opinion, which he wants to convey to all the faithful, lamenting that many "would like to remain stuck in the times of the Pope-king." Nevertheless, the pope insists in the book that marriage, as a sacrament, remains impossible for same-sex couples although he expresses his wish that people often marginalized within the church, "especially those who have received baptism and are in all respects part of the people of God. And those who have not received baptism and wish to receive it, or who wish to act as godfathers or godmothers, please, let them be welcomed."

In addition, the book includes the experiences of Jorge Bergoglio in Argentina, from his childhood to his episcopal ordination and his work as bishop and cardinal. The pope devotes a part to the Videla dictatorship, which he accuses of perpetrating "a generational genocide," and again denied the accusations of those who claim he collaborated with the dictatorship. Pope Francisco relived his pain for the death of his communist teacher, for whom even today he considers that he could have done more to save her life.

Defense of life 'from conception to death'

Another of the pope's priorities is the right to life. In his book, Francis once again emphasizes his defense at all costs of human life, "from conception to death." The pope claims that abortion "is murder," carried out by "hired killers, hitmen!" and calls the use of surrogacy "inhumane."

The pope, whose deteriorating health has been in the news often in recent times, pointed out that resignation is not on the table "despite moments of difficulty." And, should he be forced to resort to stepping down, he would not be pope emeritus, but "simply bishop emeritus of Rome," residing in Santa Maria Maggiore "to return to being a confessor and bring communion to the sick."

Building off of his possible resignation, he went on to talk about his relationship with the only pope to ever resign, his predecessor, Benedict XVI. Francis expressed his "pain" for having seen "the figure of the Pope Emeritus 'instrumentalized,' with ideological and political purposes by unscrupulous people," and for the "controversies" that "in ten years have not been lacking and have hurt both of us." Regarding the papacy, the pope points out that "the Vatican is the last absolute monarchy in Europe, and that often inside here, reasoning and court maneuvers are made, but these schemes must be definitively abandoned."