Pope Francis‘ meeting with Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has blown up since being reported and apparently, for many, tainted the entire U.S. trip. In a statement, Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi tried to distance the pontiff from Davis, saying Francis met with “several dozen” people at the Vatican’s embassy on Sept. 24, just before leaving Washington for New York. The statement reads;
“Pope Francis met with several dozen persons who had been invited by the Nunciature to greet him as he prepared to leave Washington for New York City,” Lombardi said, referring to the Vatican’s diplomatic mission. The pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects.”
The statement also added explained that the meeting could not be described as a formal audience.
“Such brief greetings occur on all papal visits and are due to the Pope’s characteristic kindness and availability. The only real audience granted by the Pope at the Nunciature was with one of his former students and his family.”
Davis was was quoted as saying that Pope Francis was
“on track with what we’re doing and agreeing, you know, it kind of validates everything.”
However, the Vatican statement indicates the Pope did not express any view. So, the meeting happened, and you can take that at face value.
Charles P. Pierce writes in Esquire, Was Pope Francis Actually Swindled into Meeting Kim Davis?, that he thinks that Francis was tricked into meeting Davis by Archbishop Carlo Vigano, at whose residence the pope stayed during his time in Washington. He says;
“… for over 2000 years, the Vatican has been a hotbed of intrigue, betrayal, and sanctified ratfcking on a very high scale. So, if you’re one of these people, and you’re looking to ratfck the pope’s visit to the United States, and to his agenda in general, you’d be looking to put him in a box. So, how would you do that?”
In short, get him to meet the most controversial religious figure in America. He goes on…
“And, if this scenario is in any way accurate, it had its desired effect. The impact of what the pope actually said and did in America has been fairly well ratfcked.
Of course, this speculation depends vitally on the proposition that Papa Francesco didn’t know who Kim Davis was, or anything about her current public display of faith-based goldbricking. I don’t find that so very hard to believe; for all the attention it’s gotten over here, it’s not an international story of any consequence…”
To coin a phrase –the plot thickens! (via NBC News, Esquire)
The post #DamageControl: Vatican Now Says The Pope’s Meeting with Kim Davis “Should Not Be Considered a Form of Support” appeared first on World of Wonder.