The Vatican issued a formal statement Friday clarifying that the meeting between Pope Francis and Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis “should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects.”
Pope Francis’ “only real audience” during his visit to the U.S. was with one of his former students and his family, according to the statement. Several dozen other people had been invited by the Nunciature in Washington, D.C., to greet the pope as he prepared to leave for New York City, and they met the pope briefly, due to the “pope’s characteristic kindness and availability,” wrote Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office.
Davis is the elected clerk of Rowan County, Ky., who became a controversial figure when she was briefly jailed for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
When Davis’ lawyers announced late Tuesday that she had met with Pope Francis, and that he had hugged her, gave her two pairs of rosaries, and told her to “stay strong,” it touched off a heated controversy. Up until now, the Vatican would only confirm that the two had met briefly. The Vatican’s Friday statement said that it hoped the additional points it contained would “contribute to an objective understanding of what transpired.”
