This time, the spin is: The Pope approves of same-sex unions.
This is what he said:
On marriage and civil unions, the Pope said that “marriage is between a man and a woman. Secular states want to justify civil unions driven by the need to regulate economic aspects between people, such as assuring health care.” Asked to what extent the Church could understand this trend, he replied: "It is necessary to look at the diverse cases and evaluate them in their variety."
Hardly a ringing endorsement.
It's not unlike the Catholic attitude towards divorce.
Divorce is still a sin.
Catholics are supposed to uphold marriage as a lifelong union.
We deal with divorce as it's a reality.
But we're not supposed to defend divorce.
A "civil union" is not a marriage, but it's a relationship trying to pose as one. And that's the problem.