The Vatican turned the tables Friday on the pope's meeting with Kim Davis: Not only did it distance the pontiff from her claims that he endorsed her stand on same-sex marriage, it said the only "real audience" Francis had in Washington was with a small group that included a gay couple.
The revelations, doled out during the course of the day, put a new twist on Pope Francis' encounter with Davis after she and her lawyers insisted that her invitation to meet the pope on Sept. 24 amounted to an affirmation of her cause.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, sought to give the Vatican's take of events in a statement early Friday, saying Francis had met with "several dozen" people at the Vatican's embassy before leaving Washington for New York.
Davis was among them and had a "brief meeting," he said. Lombardi said such meetings are common during papal trips and are due to the pope's "kindness and availability."
"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," Lombardi said.
"The only real audience granted by the pope at the nunciature was with one of his former students and his family," Lombardi added.
The man, Yayo Grassi, was later identified by The New York Times and CNN as an openly gay Argentine caterer who lives in Washington. In a video posted online, Grassi is shown entering the Vatican's embassy, embracing his former teacher and introducing Francis to his longtime partner, whom Francis recognized from a previous meeting, as well as an elderly Argentine woman and a few friends from Asia.
Lombardi later confirmed that Grassi had "asked to present his mother and several friends to the pope during the pope's stay in Washington."
"As noted in the past, the pope as pastor has maintained many personal relationships with people in a spirit of kindness, welcome and dialogue," Lombardi said.
The disclosures completely changed the narrative of Davis' encounter, making clear that Francis wanted another, more significant "audience" to come to light: that of his former student, who happens to be gay, and his longtime partner.
An audience is different from a meeting, in that it is a planned, somewhat formal affair. Popes have audiences with heads of state; they have meetings and greeting sessions with benefactors or other VIPs. So the fact that Lombardi stressed Grassi's encounter as the only "real audience" in Washington made clear that Francis wanted to emphasize it over Davis' "brief meeting" along with several dozen other people.
Earlier this week, Davis said the pope met with her and her husband and thanked her for her courage and encouraged her to "stay strong."
"Just knowing that the pope is on track with what we're doing and agreeing, you know, it kind of validates everything," she told ABC.
The Vatican statement made clear the pope intended no such validation.
He said an unnamed Vatican official initiated the meeting on Sept. 14, the day Davis returned to work after being jailed, saying the pope wanted to meet her. He said Vatican security picked up Davis and her husband from their hotel and told her to change her hairdo so she wouldn't be recognized.
Staver disputed a Vatican spokesman's assertion that the pope only met Davis in a receiving line. He said the couple was in a separate room with Francis and Vatican security and personnel and that no member of the general public was present. He said the Vatican official who arranged the meeting insisted that it not be made public until after Francis had left the U.S.
As for the Davis meeting, an assistant to Lombardi, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, said the pope would have been given a list of people who were invited to bid him farewell as he departed Washington, but was unaware of the details of the Kentucky clerk's case or any possible implications of the meeting.
"I don't think it's a matter of being tricked as of being fully aware of the situation and its complexities," he said. He said Davis' supporters had "overblown" the encounter.no secret Pope Frankie rattles cages and some disapprove of him so setting up something like this to further false support for those who support right wing bigotry not that far fetched. i think the bottom line here is not as advertised he did not endorse bigotry though she probably was duped and guided to that understanding by the republican influences around her.
if so they just made her the biggest liar and fraud in the US and just to strengthen their evangelical agenda of hate, think about it who really benefits by this deception the bigots that are anti gay. i'm glad that this was set straight i still feel until Pope Frankie himself says the words of non support for her actions that he will be ignored and twisted by the right wing propaganda effort, fix this Pope Frankie restore the faith so many have in you and your message.
lawyers description of meeting is awfully convenient devoid of witnesses and if the gathering was traditional maybe a car would have been sent to gather the few actually invited but they make it sound like a separate car was dispatched sneaked them in the back door used employee elevators and turned off cameras so the Pope could do what they widely tried to publicize sounds like typical republican contrivance done by a party of stupid. recognize
