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| Pope Francis |
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| Kim Davis |
While he was demonstrating once again his compassion for a woman who was willing to go to prison for her religious convictions, his visit with her might have sent a mixed message. Homosexual persons might well be wondering where was the Pope’s compassion for those who because of their sexual orientation have long been denied their civil right to marry the person they love and to enjoy the legal benefits of marriage.
Pope Francis has to walk a fine line between his compassionate concern for people and his need to uphold the teachings of his church on the sanctity of marriage. He is not ready to abandon his belief that the sacrament of marriage is between a man and a woman.
More and more people, however, have come to recognize that marriage is a civil right, granted by the State, a right that clergypersons and certain officials are granted the authority to perform. As a County Clerk sworn to uphold the laws of the State, Ms. Davis’ refusal to perform her duty to marry same sex couples was in the minds of many an act not of civil but of uncivil disobedience.
Despite the controversy resulting from this recently revealed meeting, my high regard for Pope Francis has not been diminished in the slightest, and I still feel his visit to the United States was a resounding success.
Viva il Papa!
The New York Times reported: Vatican officials announced on Friday that Pope Francis did not hold a private meeting with Kim Davis last week in Washington — as has been widely reported — but that Ms. Davis was among dozens of guests ushered into the Vatican’s Embassy in Washington for a brief meeting with him.
ReplyDeleteFrancis was unaware of the specifics of the case of Ms. Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who has refused to grant a marriage license to a gay couple, despite a judge’s orders that she do so. The case has become a focal point in the debate over the tensions between religious liberty and marriage equality in the United States.
“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,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said in a statement released on Friday morning, referring to the Vatican’s term for its embassy.
-- I'm inclined to believe this.
Thank you for the update. I, too, am inclined to believe it.
ReplyDelete