Pope in the USA: Punk’d by a Tea Party Saint, Hugged Gay Guys

When Everybody’s favorite pontiff, Pope Francis, visited Washington DC in September he had a secret meeting with intolerant, oath-breaking Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and her current husband. It was a secret to His Holiness, anyway, who had no earthly idea who Mrs. Davis is. She was apparently one of many people he greeted during his Vatican Embassy stay.

Pope Francis didn’t set up the meeting; it was arranged by papal nucio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Vatican’s envoy to the US, who was sent to the States by former Pope Benedict XVI to keep him from meddling in Vatican City politics. Archbishop Viganò turns 75 in a few months and is expected to be “retired” by the current pontiff.

While in DC Pope Francis met with a same-sex couple, Washington caterer Yayo Grassi and his long-time partner Iwan Bagus. His Holiness had personally invited Mr. Grassi, his former student at Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepción in Argentina, to a private audience, and there were hugs all around.

Lawyers for Kim Davis from the Falwell-affiliated Liberty Counsel claimed that the Pope’s off-the-cuff comments on conscientious objectors referred to their client, but the Vatican denied this, and many have observed that the county clerk is not a CO since she forced her beliefs on her deputies rather than letting them act on their own. Papal spokesmen have emphasized that the Papal greeting was not a show of support for the delinquent Rowan County clerk.

More:

“Was Pope Francis Actually Swindled into Meeting Kim Davis?” Charles P. Pierce, Esquire

“Vatican Says Kim Davis ‘Exploited’ the Pope,” The Advocate

“Vatican distances Pope Francis from Kentucky clerk Kim Davis,” John L. Allen Jr. and Inés San Martín, Crux

“Vatican clarifies background on Pope’s meeting with Kim Davis,” Elise Harris, Catholic News Agency

“Vatican ‘Clarifies’ and Complicates Story of Pope Francis-Kim Davis Meeting,” Barbie Latza Nadeau, Daily Beast

“The Vatican’s Internal Fight Over Kim Davis and the Pope,” Emma Green, The Atlantic

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Image (“Saint Kim of Kentucky”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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