Before Kim Davis, the Pope Hung Out With a Gay Couple

The Revd Lombardi said such meetings are par for the course of any Vatican trip and are due to the Pope’s “kindness and availability”. “That kind of openness would set a great example for bishops and other church leaders who cringe at the thought of any association with LGBT people or issues”.

Lombardi declined to provide any further details when pressed by reporters. According to Reuters, the Vatican spokesman said there was a “sense of regret” that the pope had met with Davis, as he attempted to distance the pontiff from the potentially controversial Davis.

News of the audience sent shockwaves through the US church, with Davis’ supporters saying it showed the pope backed her cause and opponents questioning whether the pope had been duped into meeting with her.

Earlier this week it emerged that the pontiff met Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licences to gay couples. A conservative Christian, she claimed she could not act contrary to God’s law. Now, the Vatican is providing context and a few clarification on how the meeting transpired.

Grassi then introduces the pope one-by-one to three women and his partner, Bagus.

Prior to his meeting with Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis in Washington, D.C., during his historic trip to the United States, Pope Francis also met with a longtime friend of his from Argentina who has been in a same-sex relationship for 19 years, CNN reports.

He said the pope had long known he was gay but never condemned his sexual orientation or his same sex relationship. He even counseled her to change her hairstyle to avoid notice.

The spokesman answered questions about the meeting with Davis during an October. 2 press briefing for the upcoming synod on the family, saying, “I don’t have anything else to add at this moment”. The Vatican sent a vehicle for Davis and her husband on the following day to take them to the embassy. Staver said he was not present either.

When Davis used her meeting with the Pope in an attempt to validate her same-sex marriage views as being the same as the Pope, backers of gay marriage accused her of using the Pope.

“It was an extraordinary moment. He taught us Argentine literature and psychology”, Grassi said. “I was deeply moved”, Davis said.

Asked if the pope had been set up intentionally by someone in the embassy, Rosica said: “No, reading all of the information, listening to all of the facts, these things happen”.

In response, the Florida-based Liberty Council, which is providing lawyers for Davis, released a statement Friday defending the Davis camp’s characterizations of the meeting.