Pope Francis Met Same Sex Couple Before Meeting Kim Davis
Before he met Kim Davis on September 24, Pope met same-sex couple Yayo Grassi and his partner Iwan Bagus at the Vatican Embassy on the 23rd.
Argentinian Grassi is openly gay, and has been involved in a same-sex relationship for 19 years. He has been the Pope's friend for long. He came with a number of friends.
Grassi, who is 67, was taught literature and psychology by the Pope at Inmaculada Concepcion, a Catholic high school in Sante Fe, Argentina, from 1964-1965.
A video of the Pope's meeting wtih Grassi shows the Pope hugging Grassi to welcome him.
"Three weeks before the trip, he called me on the phone and said he would love to give me a hug," Grassi told CNN.
"Mr. Yayo Grassi, a former Argentine student of Pope Francis, who had already met other times in the past with the Pope, asked to present his mother and several friends to the Pope during the Pope's stay in Washington, DC. As noted in the past, the Pope, as pastor, has maintained many personal relationships with people in a spirit of kindness, welcome and dialogue," Rev. Thomas Rosica, an English-language spokesman for the Vatican confirmed.
"Just two friends meeting after a long time. We didn't talk about gay issues or anything like that," Grassi said.
He mentioned that the Pope had known about his sexual orientation for a long time. "He has never been judgmental. He has never said anything negative," Grassi said.
Many view the announcement as a move by the Vatican to "distance itself from Kim Davis and the Pope's meeting with her and her husband", according to HNGN.
The following day, after the meeting with Grassi, the Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis had met the Pope in secret, with her husband Joe.
Davis, who had been jailed for turning down applications to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, also met the Pope in Washington, D.C., during his visit.
Davis' lawyer Mathew Staver said that Davis and Joe had gone by car to see him at the Vatican Embassy on Sept. 24. In a meeting that lasted for 15 minutes, the pope gave her rosaries and told her to "stay strong," according to The Globe and Mail.
"It was really very humbling to even think that he would want to, you know, meet me or know me. I put my hand out, and he grabbed it, and I hugged him, and he hugged me and he said, 'Thank you for your courage.' He told me before he left, he said, 'Stay strong.' That was a great encouragement," Davis told ABC, according to Reuters.
"I do not deny that the meeting took place, but I have no other comments to add," said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi, reports The New York Times.
The Pope felt that Davis had the right to object, even though he said he had not been completely aware of all the details.
"It is a right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right," Pope Francis said.
