Until 8 p.m. includes Twin Cities area

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Responding to a flood of interest in the surprise revelation that Pope Francis met with controversial county clerk Kim Davis, the Vatican says the event shouldn't be seen as an endorsement of all of Davis' views. Davis has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County, Ky.

Davis was one of "several dozen" people the pope met at the end of his visit to Washington, D.C., the Vatican says.

 surfaced days after Francis and Davis met at the Vatican Embassy, opening a new prism through which to view a papal visit that had focused on issues such as climate change and immigration.


After the meeting, Davis told ABC News, "Just knowing the pope is on track with what we're doing, and agreeing, you know, kind of validates everything."

Acknowledging that the meeting has "continued to provoke comments and discussion," a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, addressed the topic Friday, expanding on his earlier refusal to provide details.

Sylvia adds that the Rev. Thomas Rosica, English language assistant at the Holy See Press Office, says that Francis may not have understood "the impact" a visit with Davis might have in the U.S.; Rosica also says the group that included Davis was selected by the nunciature, the Vatican's diplomatic office in D.C.


On Wednesday, Davis and her legal team at the 

 said the meeting had been brief, and that the pope had thanked Davis for her courage and told her, "Stay strong."


Davis, who is an an Apostolic Christian, said the pope gave her and her husband two rosaries, which they would give to Davis' parents, who are Catholic.


News of the meeting first emerged in the conservative magazine 

, which said it was "arguably, the most significant meeting, symbolically, of the entire trip."


The head of a group of LGBT Catholics says the meeting sends "a message that is very exclusionary to people who have been faithful to the church despite a lot of oppression."


Marianne Duddy-Burke, the leader of Dignity USA, said on 

 that before news of the Davis meeting surfaced, "there was a real sense of joy in the church, and inclusion, and I think many LGBT Catholics were pretty moved."


Duddy-Burke, who was invited to the White House's reception for Pope Francis, described her reaction to the news of the pope's time with Davis:

From the Vatican's clarification issued Friday, here's Lombardi's full statement, which was released in both English and Italian:

A previous version of this post misspelled the name of the Rev. Thomas Rosica as Rossica.

Religion and Faith

On Wednesday, Davis and her legal team said that the meeting had been brief, and that the pope had thanked Davis for her courage and told her, "Stay strong."

Vatican says pope's visit with Davis not a form of support

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox