text: By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor 
   
   Follow @BurkeCNN 
   
   (CNN) - Pope Francis reaffirmed the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage on Wednesday, but suggested in a newspaper interview that it could support some types of civil unions. 
   
   The Pope reiterated the church's longstanding teaching that "marriage is between a man and a woman." However, he said, "We have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety." 
   
   States, for instance, justify civil unions as a way to provide economic security to cohabitating couples, the Pope said in a wide-ranging interview published Wednesday in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily. State-sanctioned unions are thus driven by the need to ensure rights like access to health care, Francis added. 
   
   A number of Catholic bishops have supported civil unions for same-sex couples as an alternative to marriage, including Pope Francis when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 2010, according to reports in National Catholic Reporter and The New York Times. 
   
   Behind closed doors, pope supported civil unions in Argentina, activist says 
   
   But Wednesday's comments are "the first time a Pope has indicated even tentative acceptance of civil unions," according to Catholic News Service. 
   
   Later on Wednesday, a Vatican spokesman sought to clarify the Pope's remarks. 
   
   "The Pope did not choose to enter into debates about the delicate matter of gay civil unions," said the Rev. Thomas Rosica, a consultant to the Vatican press office. 
   
   "In his response to the interviewer, he emphasized the natural characteristic of marriage between one man and one woman, and on the other hand, he also spoke about the obligation of the state to fulfill its responsibilities towards its citizens." 
   
   "We should not try to read more into the Pope’s words than what has been stated in very general terms," Rosica added. 
   
   Pope Francis, who marks his first year in office on March 13, has sought to set a more tolerant tone for his 1 billion-member church and suggested that a broad range of topics are at least open for discussion. 
   
   In January, the Pope recalled a little girl in Buenos Aires who told her teacher that she was sad because "my mother's girlfriend doesn't like me." 
   
   "The situation in which we live now provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand," the Pope told leaders of religious orders, adding that the church "must be careful not to administer a vaccine against faith to them." 
   
   The Vatican later denied that those comments signaled an opening toward same-sex unions. 
   
   Last June, Francis famously refused to judge gay priests in comments that ricocheted around the world. He has also said that the church should not "interfere" in the spiritual lives of gays and lesbians. 
   
   Pope Francis' greatest hits of 2013 
   
   Support of same-sex unions of any type is fiercely contested by many Catholic church leaders. 
   
   In Wednesday's interview, Francis also addressed several other controversial issues, including the Catholic Church's ban on contraception, the role of women and the devastating clergy sexual abuse scandal. 
   
   On contraception, the Pope praised Pope Paul VI for having the "courage" to "go against the majority" when restating the ban in 1968. But, Francis said, the church must also be "merciful" and "attentive to concrete situations." 
   
   Contraception and church's ban on divorced Catholics receiving holy communion, will likely be addressed at major meetings of Catholic bishops in Rome in 2014 and 2015. 
   
   “We must give a response. But to do so, we must reflect much in depth,” the Pope said Wednesday. 
   
   On the role of women in the church, an issue of particular concern to Catholics in the United States, the Pope hinted that changes could be in the works. 
   
   "Women must be present in all of the places where decisions are taken," Francis said in the newspaper interview, but the church must consider more than "functional" roles for women. To that end, Catholic leaders are engaged in "deep reflection" on women's role in the church, he said. 
   
   On the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, a scandal that has rocked the church in the United States, the Pope said the abuse has left "very deep wounds" on victims. 
   
   In response, the church has done more than other institutions to be open and transparent about sexual abuse by its employees, Francis said. “But the Church is the only one to be attacked." 
   
   A United Nations panel criticized Catholic leaders last month in a hard-hitting report on clergy sexual abuse. 
   
   The report said the Vatican "has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators.” 
   
   The Vatican said it would study the U.N. report. 
   
   Kick out those who sexually abuse children, U.N. panel tells Vatican 
   
   On Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who has surprised church-watchers with public appearances after saying he would live a cloistered life in retirement, Francis said he considers his predecessor a "wise grandfather." 
   
   "The Pope Emeritus is not a statue in a museum," Pope Francis said. Rather, the two men have decided that Benedict should participate in the church's public life rather than live a shuttered life. 
   
   "I thought about grandparents who with their wisdom, their advice, strengthen families and don't deserve to end up in an old folks home," Francis said. 
   
   Finally, he may sometimes wear a cape, but don't call Pope Francis a Superman, the popular pontiff said. 
   
   "To paint the Pope as a sort of Superman, a kind of star, seems offensive to me," Francis told Corriere della Sera. "The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps soundly and has friends like everyone else. A normal person." 
   
   Earlier this year, graffiti depicting a muscle-bound and flying Francis appeared on walls near Vatican City, but the Pope said Wednesday that he doesn't like the "mythology" surrounding his papacy, which marks its first anniversary on March 13. 
   
   For instance, Francis debunked the idea that he sneaks out of the Vatican at night to feed the homeless. 
   
   "It never occurred to me," he said. 
   
   (CNN's Delia Gallagher assisted in translating Pope Francis' remarks from the Italian.) ||||| VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis finds the hype that is increasingly surrounding him "offensive," according to an interview published Wednesday, even as the Vatican itself is marking the anniversary of his election with commemorative stamps and coins and a DVD with never-before-seen footage of the pope. 
   
   Francis told Italian daily Corriere della Sera he doesn't appreciate the myth-making that has seen him depicted as a "Superpope" (as an Italian street artist recently painted him) who sneaks out at night to feed the poor (as Italian newspapers have suggested). 
   
   On Wednesday, he had to contend with a new bout of celebrity as "My Pope" hit Italian newsstands, a weekly gossip magazine devoted entirely to Francis. It is published by Mondadori, which is owned by ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi's media empire. In addition, at his general audience, someone tried to give him a replica of an Oscar statue that said "Oscar Pope" on it. 
   
   "I don't like ideological interpretations, this type of mythology of Pope Francis," the pope told Corriere. "If I'm not mistaken, Sigmund Freud said that in every idealization there's an aggression. Depicting the pope as a sort of Superman, a star, is offensive to me. 
   
   "The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly and has friends like everyone else. A normal person." 
   
   Francis marks his anniversary as pope March 13. For the occasion, the Vatican has issued new coins and stamps. The DVD will feature behind-the-scenes footage of the pope leaving the Sistine Chapel just after he was elected and praying in the nearby Paoline Chapel before he went out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to greet the world with his famous "Buonasera." 
   
   In the interview, Francis also said he and Pope Benedict XVI had agreed that the emeritus pontiff wouldn't remain hidden away, as Benedict had said he would spend his retirement, but would participate more in the life of the church. That's in keeping with Francis' belief that the elderly have a wealth of wisdom to offer younger generations. 
   
   "The emeritus pope isn't a statue in a museum. He's an institution," Francis said. "We talked about it and we decided together that it would be better if he sees people, gets out and participates in the life of the church." 
   
   Benedict recently attended the recent ceremony to formally install 19 new cardinals, the first time he and Francis had appeared together in St. Peter's. He is widely expected to attend the April 27 canonizations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII. 
   
   "Some might have wanted him to retire away in a Benedictine abbey far from the Vatican," Francis said. "I thought about grandparents who with their wisdom and advice give strength to their families and don't deserve to end up in an old folks' home." 
   
   ___ 
   
   Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield ||||| 2014-03-03 Vatican Radio 
   
   00:01:53:81 
   
   (Vatican Radio) From March 1st, the magnificent gardens surrounding the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo are open to the public. Located south of Rome in the Alban hills, the property includes the extensive Barberini gardens, the remains of a Roman villa and a 62 acre farm, as well as the ancient papal palace. Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look:Listen:A statement from the director of the Vatican Museums says it was Pope Francis himself who decided to make accessible to all the gardens of the Pontifical Villas “where the splendor of art and the glory of nature co-exist in admirable equilibrium.” From Monday through Saturday mornings a one and a half hour guided tour of the gardens, in Italian or English, will be available to individuals or groups through an online booking system.The Barberini Gardens, as they’re known, lie on the site of an ancient Roman villa built by Emperor Domitian, the third and last ruler of the Flavian dynasty. Visitors can still wander through the ruins of the imperial theatre and the crypto-portico, or covered passageway where the emperor and his guests could stroll while escaping from the summer heat.With stunning views over Lake Albano and beyond, to the coastline of the Mediterranean sea, the Villa has been a favourite holiday residence for the popes since the 17century. Under the Lateran Pact of 1929, the Villa became part of the extra-territorial possessions of the Holy See and underwent major restoration work. The pope of that time, Pius XI, oversaw the creation of a model farm which still produces eggs, milk, oil, vegetables and honey for local employees or for sale in the Vatican supermarket. Pope Pius XII, who allowed war refugees sanctuary in the Villa, died there in 1958, as did Pope Paul VI two decades later. Amongst the hidden treasures that visitors can enjoy are the magnolia garden, the path of roses and that of aromatic herbs, the square of holly oaks and the breathtaking Belvedere garden.For further details and bookings, visit the Vatican Museums website at: mv.vatican.va
target: – As an Argentine cardinal, Jorge Bergoglio backed gay civil unions, and Pope Francis is signaling in an interview that the Catholic Church as a whole could tolerate at least some of them. While maintaining the church's position that "marriage is between a man and a woman," Francis nonetheless conceded that "we have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety." He says civil unions can be a financial help to couples when it comes to matters like "medical care," notes CNN. Other highlights in his interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera, as per the AP: He's been the subject of comic-book-inspired street art and a fan recently offered him an imitation Oscar, but Francis isn't digging the whole Superpope thing. "I don't like ideological interpretations, this type of mythology of Pope Francis. If I'm not mistaken, Sigmund Freud said that in every idealization there's an aggression. Depicting the pope as a sort of Superman, a star, is offensive to me," he noted. "The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly, and has friends like everyone else. A normal person." A new magazine looks unlikely to alter that "superhero" perception. Today sees the launch of Il Mio Papa, or My Pope—"a sort of fanzine," says editor Aldo Vitali. The new magazine will cover the pope's pronouncements, offering a weekly papal centerfold emblazoned with a quote. It will take a look at Francis' personal life, "but of course it can’t be like something you’d do for One Direction," Vitali tells the New York Times. "We aim to be more respectful, more noble." Francis is opening up the gardens of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence, to members of the public, the Telegraph reports. "It was Pope Francis himself" who made the decision," says a Vatican official.