Pope Francis Met With Openly Gay Former Student Before Kim Davis

For Francis, the timing of the Davis controversy is not ideal.

“It reminds us, again, that the Pope meets with all sorts of people on his trips and that such meetings are not an “endorsement” of anything”, said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large at America magazine. The same day the Vatican released a statement underplaying the meeting between the infamous town clerk and Pope Francis, it was revealed that the latter first met with a former student and his partner.

Yayo Grassi, Francis’ longtime friend from Argentina, spoke about the meeting during an interview with CNN.

Grassi tells CNN that the pope has long known his former student is gay but has never condemned his sexuality or his same-sex relationship. “Who am I to have this rare opportunity?”

An audience differs from a meeting in that it is a planned, somewhat formal affair.

The meeting added a partisan wrinkle to Pope Francis’ trip last week. Davis and her husband, Staver told the Associated Press, met the pope alone.

“Pope Francis was kind, genuinely caring, and very personable”. A Vatican chief spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi eventually confirmed the private audience to the New York Times, but again declined to elaborate.

As it turns out, the Vatican said on Friday, the pope did not mean to endorse Ms. Davis’s views. His boyfriend, Bagus, worked on a video that was posted online that showed Francis hugging Grassi and the others. “But yes, I can say that conscientious objection is a right that is part of human rights”.

The pope largely avoided the issue of same-sex marriage during his visit to three American cities in five days, delivering a message that seemed to highlight more progressive aspects of the Catholic Church.

Rosica added that it is likely that the pope did not come to the realization of how controversial Davis had become.

“[There was] no one but she, her husband and the pope and one of his personnel….”

The Apostolic Nunciature to the United States, or Vatican Embassy, initially would not confirm to ThinkProgress that Francis met with Grassi.

In April, Vigano was a special guest at an anti-gay-marriage rally held in Washington and organized by the National Organization for Marriage.

He has since strongly taken up the religious liberty charge championed by United States bishops, suggesting that he might well have supported Davis in her battle over gay marriage. “No other members of the public were present”, Liberty Counsel declared in a Friday “facts” sheet. Bergoglio asked for forgiveness if he had hurt Grassi and said a newspaper had taken his words out of context.

While the pope sought during his US visit to avoid hot-button culture war issues, an openly gay TV personality, Mo Rocca, was a lector at the pope’s Mass at Madison Square Garden, a decision that would have been made by the New York Archdiocese.