Pope Francis has endorsed civil unions for same-sex couples in a major shift from Catholic doctrine.

“Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” the Pope said in a film, according to multiple media accounts Wednesday (October 21).

“They are children of God,” Francis said in the documentary Francesco.

According to the Pope, “Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it.”

Francis is getting no thumbs up from the Christian Heritage Party of B.C., which has fielded five candidates in the October 24 provincial election.

The Straight sought comment from deputy party leader Rod Taylor, a candidate for MLA in Stikine.

“We disagree with the Pope on that issue,” Taylor said in a phone interview.

“We think that bibical record, scriptural record, still stands that God created man and woman in the very beginning,” Taylor continued.

According to Taylor, the “institution of marriage between a man and a woman, with or without children…has been the legacy for thousands of years, and we think it’s the model that actually works for a strong society”.

Taylor was asked how the party intends to explain the issue to its supporters and the general public.

“I think many people in the Catholic Church do actualy disagree with some of his statements on various issues,” he said.

Taylor noted that he is not Catholic, and he wants to leave the matter for Catholic people to sort out.

“If they believe in God, if they belive the bible is a consistent document that is to guide our lives, our understanding, then they’re going to have to think for themselves on that particular issue,” Taylor said.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Canada in 2005.

In its policy book, the Christian Heritage Party of B.C. states that it “believes that the institution of marriage should be restricted to the union of one man and one woman”.

It asserts that marriage “should be viewed primarily as the vehicle for producing and raising the children which are the future generations of British Columbians”.

“The courts should not determine the definition of marriage,” the party’s policy book adds.

Catholic doctrine declares respect for gay people but does not support sexual relations and marriages.

Christian Heritage Party of B.C. leader Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson is running as candidate in Abbotsford South.