Vatican City: The Vatican on Friday denied Pope Francis’s meeting with US county clerk Kim Davis signified support for her refusal to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples in the name of her faith.
Davis, a born-again Christian, met with the pontiff in September while he was in Washington, and told American media that Francis had hugged her and urged her to “stay strong”, saying “thank you for your courage”.
But after widespread media coverage of Davis’s description of the encounter, the Vatican issued a rare statement in which spokesman Federico Lombardi said the meeting was not an endorsement.
“The Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects,” he said.
As the “brief meeting” between Davis and Francis “has continued to provoke comments and discussion”, Lombardi said he hoped to “contribute to an objective understanding of what transpired”. The pontiff “met with several dozen persons who had been invited by the Nunciature” — the Vatican’s equivalent of an embassy — a tradition on all papal visits.
