POPE FRANCIS has become the first pontiff to endorse same-sex marriage, commenting that “homosexuals have the right to be in a family.”

The documentary Francesco, which premiered at the Roma Film Festival on Wednesday night, features an interview with the Pope stating his support, which has been welcomed by gay Catholics.

“Homosexuals have the right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it,” he says.

“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”

Also interviewed for the film is Chilean Juan Carlos Cruz who tells the Pope about the sexual abuse he was subjected to by Catholic priests.

Pope Francis initially dismissed the victims, demanding evidence for their claims in an angry 2018 missive. However, shortly afterwards he pleaded for forgiveness and made the Chilean bishops resign.

His support for same-sex marriage has met a mixed response in the religious community, with Ed Mechmann, director of public policy at the Archdiocese of New York, stating that the Pope had “made a serious mistake.”

And Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, said: “The church cannot support the acceptance of objectively immoral relationships.”

However, Reverend James Martin, a Jesuit who has sought to build bridges with gay Catholics, welcomed the comments as “a major step forward in the church’s support for LGBT people.”

And director of the New Ways Ministry Francis DeBernardo described the “historic” shift for a church that has a record of persecuting gays.