Pope Francis greets school children as he departs the Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican's diplomatic mission in the heart of Washington, D.C.
Cliff Owen / AP
The Vatican on Wednesday confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Pope Francis met briefly with Kim Davis — the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for disobeying a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
When asked if the meeting took place, Vatican spokesperson Rev. Federico Lombardi told BuzzFeed News "yes."
He added, "I don't deny the meeting has taken place. But I have no comment to add."
A spokesperson for Liberty Counsel, the law firm representing Davis, claims the pope also gave Davis these two rosaries:
Liberty Counsel
"While we await the Vatican to send pictures of the meeting between thepope and Kim Davis and her husband Joe, I thought you might be interested in a picture of the rosaries the pope gave the couple," said Charla Bansley.
Bansley added in an email to BuzzFeed News, "We were told that [the Vatican] would be sending" photos of the meeting between Davis and the pope.
The meeting that Davis and her husband, Joe Davis, had with the pontiff — first announced Tuesday night by the clerk's attorneys — reportedly occurred Sept. 24 at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C.
In an interview with ABC News, Davis said she was crying when she met the pope. "I had tears coming out of my eyes," she said. "I'm just a nobody, so it was really humbling to think he would want to meet or know me.”
According to an account of the exchange posted by her attorneys at the Liberty Counsel, Francis told Davis to "stay strong" and thanked her for her courage:
He held out his hands and asked Kim to pray for him. Kim held his hands and said, "I will. Please pray for me," and the pope said he would. The two embraced.
Davis told ABC News, "I put my hand out and he reached and he grabbed it, and I hugged him and he hugged me. And he said, ‘Thank you for your courage.'"
The interaction took place in English, her attorneys added, with Francis blessing the married couple and giving them each a rosary for Davis's mother and father, who are Catholic.
Davis's attorney, Mathew Staver, reported that the meeting lasted for about 15 minutes, with the pope surrounded by security officers and aides. No photographs of the event were immediately released.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, with Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (left) greets the crowd after being released from jail.
Timothy D. Easley / AP
Davis, who is Apostolic Christian, made international headlines earlier this year for refusing to issue any marriage licenses in Rowan County, Kentucky, due to her opposition to same-sex couples marrying. She repeatedly cited her newfound Christian faith — and her belief in religious freedoms — in opposing a federal judge's order to comply with an earlier Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage a right.
On the papal plane back to Rome from the U.S., Francis appeared to address the showdown in Rowan County, telling reporters that government workers have a "human right" to refuse to perform their duty if they have a "conscientious objection" to it.
While he did not name Davis, the pope continued: "Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right."
The Liberty Counsel's announcement of the meeting was initially met with skepticism.
Earlier on Tuesday, attorneys with the firm admitted they used a fake photo in an attempt to prove there was a giant prayer in Peru in Davis’s honor. The photo was actually of a religious festival held in May 2014.
The legal team, however, insisted that the underlying claim of prayer rallies occurring for Davis in Peru were real.
LINK: Despite Fake Photo, Kim Davis’s Lawyers Say There Was A Giant Prayer Rally For Her
LINK: Pope Francis Says Government Officials Have A “Human Right” To Refuse Same-Sex Marriage Licenses
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1OGcZBU
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