Vatican: Pope met with gay ex-student, not just Ky. clerk
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Friday distanced Pope Francis from Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk at the center of the U.S. gay marriage debate, saying she was one of dozens of people the pope greeted as he left Washington and that their encounter “should not be considered a form of support of her position.”
A Vatican spokesman said the only audience Francis had in Washington was with a former student and his family, who later identified himself as Yayo Grassi, an openly gay Argentine who met the pope with his longtime partner and some friends.
The revelations turned the table on the narrative of Davis’ encounter, making clear that Francis wanted another meeting to come to light, that of an old student and his “family,” who happens to be gay.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Francis met with “sev- eral dozen” people at the Vatican’s embassy in Washington before leaving for New York.
Lombardi said such meetings are normal on any Vatican trip and are due to the pope’s “kindness and availability.”
Lombardi said Davis’ “brief” meeting that afternoon was by no means a papal endorsement of her cause.
“The only real audience granted by the pope at the nunciature was with one of his former students and his family,” Lombardi said.
Lombardi didn’t reveal who the student was, but the man subsequently came forward.
In a video posted online, Grassi is shown entering the embassy, embracing his former teacher and introducing Francis to his partner, whom Francis recognized from a previous meeting, and a few friends from Asia.
A Vatican assistant spokesman, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, confirmed that the former student was indeed Grassi.
An audience differs 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 Catholic VIPs.
So the fact that Lombardi described Grassi’s encounter as the only “real audience” in Washington made clear that Francis wanted to emphasize that encounter over Davis’ “brief meeting” with several dozen other people invited to the embassy at the same time.
Davis, an Apostolic Christian, spent five days in jail for defying federal court orders to issue same-sex marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide.
A judge ultimately freed Davis on the condition she doesn’t interfere with her deputies issuing the licenses.