Pope Francis has become one of the most dearly respected religious figures of all time, even among secular people. There is a ripple in the water though, because according to Kim Davis’ lawyers, he met with her this last week to provide moral support. According to NPR, a Vatican spokesperson isn’t denying it.
First, I find it necessary to establish the party’s stances and history in order to better understand if this is true. In reference to Pope Francis’ reputation with the LGBTQ+ community, he declared that he would meet with gay and transgender inmates. He even went so far as to say: “Who am I to judge?” Kim Davis has not instilled in us a feeling of trustworthiness, based mostly on her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the SCOTUS declaration that same-sex marriage was legal under the constitution. It should be noted that she discontinued issuing licenses to heterosexual couples during this period also.
Davis has a very hypocritical past. The Liberty Counsel, representing Davis, has recently been exposed as having lied in regards to a supposed support rally for Kim Davis. They have released a letter admitting to using a false photo of a crowd and stating that the crowd had gathered in support of Davis. The claim about meeting with the Pope still remains a possibility, even after the established dishonest tendencies of Kim Davis and her lawyers.
Liberty Counsel has stated that Kim Davis met with Pope Francis at the Vatican Embassy. According to the Liberty Counsel the following took place:
” ‘Stay strong.’ 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. The Pontiff presented Kim and Joe Davis each with a Rosary that he personally blessed.”
All parties seemed reluctant, at first, to provide pictures of the Rosaries the Pope had reportedly given them. However a picture of the Rosaries with the official Vatican seal was released to The Atlantic by the Liberty Counsel.
According to NPR, the following was said by Vatican spokesperson, Father Federico Lombardi, in Italian:
“I cannot not deny the meeting took place but I have no comments to add.”
To be frank, this is quite shocking. Inside the Vatican, which is not an official representative of the church, was the first to report on the subject. The writer claimed to have spoken with Kim Davis after the meeting. The entire report was based on a press release issued to Robert Moynihan with Inside the Vatican by Liberty Counsel.
With very little evidence to the contrary, I find this a quite disheartening reality. As many of us surely hoped, it was thought that this Pope was leading the way to tolerance. However we must not forget that this is still the Pope of the Catholic Church, which has a rocky past in regards to abortion, birth control, and LGBTQ+ rights.
Featured Image Is A Collage Created By Brett Banks. Two Images Used Were Obtained From Wikipedia And Wikimedia Available Under A Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License.
