According to news reports, Pope Francis had a private meeting with Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis last week:

Pope Francis met secretly in Washington last week with Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who defied a court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, her lawyer said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. Francis gave her rosaries and told her to “stay strong,” the lawyer said.

Take that anecdote with a grain of salt. It’s relayed by the same lawyer, Mat Staver, who lied about a prayer rally in Peru in Davis’ honor.

Staver says pictures of the meeting are coming soon. Then again, he also says that about Jesus.

Point being: I don’t trust the guy.

If it happened, though, you have to wonder why the Pope, who has shied away as much as he can from political controversies, would want to meet her.

Why would Mr. Who-am-I-to-judge want to meet Mrs. All-I-do-is-judge?

He referenced the issue — without mentioning Davis specifically — in a conversation with reporters:

… On the plane trip home, an American television reporter asked him about government officials who refused to perform their duties because of religious objections to same-sex marriage. The pope said he could not speak specifically about cases but that “conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right.” “It is a right,” he said. “And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right.”

There’s a deepity for you: It sounds great but doesn’t say very much. Of course conscientious objection is a right, but so is getting your marriage license. The personal religious beliefs of government officials shouldn’t trump the rights of other citizens.

In any case, Robert Moynihan, who broke news of the meeting on his site Inside the Vatican, said that “Vatican sources have confirmed to me that this meeting did occur; the occurrence of this meeting is not in doubt.”

But he also said:

There is no recording of this conversation, or photographs, as far as I know.

So… we wait for confirmation, I guess.

Even if the meeting occurred, though, it would lend support to the notion that the Pope isn’t the champion of inclusivity and tolerance so many people make him out to be.

He is a Catholic, bound by the doctrines of the Catholic Church.

The Pope is ultimately as opposed to gay rights as Kim Davis. He doesn’t want gay couples to get married and he sees “homosexual acts [as] intrinsically disordered.” Until last week, he did everything in his power to keep those beliefs hidden. Meeting with her, as if she’s a victim of anything, would send a message that the Church really hasn’t changed at all, even with a popular Pope at its helm.

Which is exactly what critics of religion have been saying for a long time.

So bring on the pictures. Maybe then, his adoring fans would think a little more about what he represents.



