Argentina's Cristina Fernandez Becomes Godmother to Lesbian Couple's Baby

Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has become the godmother of a lesbian couple's baby girl in a Roman Catholic ceremony.

Baby Uma Azul is the first child from a gay couple to be baptised in Argentina, where the church opposes gay unions.

The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Cordoba, 435 miles (700km) from the capital Buenos Aires.

The baptism was conducted by priest Carlos Varas, under the watchful gaze of parents Carina Villaroel and Soledad Ortiz, Reuters reported.

"Father Varas told us he had been waiting for a couple like us, a gay one, and we happened to come and he accepted us," Villaroel said. She was fired from her job as a police officer after requesting maternity leave.

"There's really been a social change for Catholicism to have said yes to baptising a child from a lesbian family."

To local paper La Nacion, Villaroel said: "We asked the president to be Uma's godmother, because it's a way of thanking her and former president Nestor Kirchner for this law that gave us rights."

Fernandez won a political battle against Pope Francis in 2010, when he led Argentina's church, and the country became the first in Latin America to legalise gay marriage.

After he became pope, Francis showed more openness to gays and lesbians and said that all children can be baptised, although the Church's official position hasn't changed on gay unions.

An Argentine law based on an old Russian tradition allows couples to ask presidents to be godparents for their seventh child.

Fernandez agreed to make an exception for the couple's first child. She did not attend the ceremony, but sent a representative.

It is unclear whether the Vatican gave its approval for the ceremony.