For the sake of clarity, it is fair to note that the position on same-sex civil unions voiced today by Pope Francis I goes somewhat beyond the documents of 1986 and 1994 against the legal recognition of gay couples, addressed…

For the sake of clarity, it is fair to note that the position on same-sex civil unions voiced today by Pope Francis I goes somewhat beyond the documents of 1986 and 1994 against the legal recognition of gay couples, addressed to the bishops of the Catholic Church and formally proclaiming concern for homosexuals, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the oldest and chief of the nine Congregations of the Roman Curia, within whose competence lies the supervision of the orthodoxy and purity of the doctrine and morals preached in the Roman Catholic Church. Notwithstanding the aforementioned Letter of 1994, bishops in many countries have repeatedly spoken of the need to observe, to recognise in law and to extend civil rights such as, in particular, inheritance, the right to visit hospitals and to take important decisions in life for couples who have long lived together, regardless of their sex. The same was advocated by Cardinal Bergoglio, Bishop of Buenos Aires, who at the same time, incidentally, opposed any revision of the traditional definition of marriage as a union of a man and a woman. There is a whole article on Pope Francis I and homosexuality on Wikipedia.