Pope Francis Once Supported Civil Unions, But Only As the ‘Lesser of Two Evils’

When it was announced that as pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio would be taking the name Francis, after the reformer Francis of Assisi, many briefly got their hopes up before being informed that while he might address corruption in the Vatican, Pope Francis probably won't be reversing any of the church's controversial positions on social issues. However, the New York Times reports that at one point Bergoglio did take a position on gay rights that initially sounds surprisingly liberal. When Argentina was about to legalize gay marriage in 2010, Bergoglio urged the church to support civil unions for gay couples — before he become the face of the church's opposition to the law.