In the news, both Pope Francis and Kim Davis have been making waves in the opposite direction. Kim Davis being cheered as the Conservative Christian champion and Pope Francis as the “Liberal” Christian champion. However, most liberals don’t really regard the Pope as liberal. Never-the-less, it has happened that the Pope had a private meeting with Kim Davis on Thursday, the 24th of September.
The question that people are asking on both the right and on the left is: why? Why is did the Pope decide to break his liberal agenda to meet with someone who seems to be at odds?
Background Info
Sometimes we have to understand that headlines are not always the best indicator of real life. I say this because the Pope did not setup the meeting with Kim Davis. In fact, he had nothing to do with scheduling the visit. Although, even is he did, I would not care. People are allowed to meet with anyone they please to meet with.
The visit was actually setup by Archbishop Carlo Vigano, the papal nuncio to the United States. In addition, the Pope has said so his team and publicly that he was not aware of who she was or what she had done, just that he was told that she was a conscientious objector of USA law, by his staff. One would find this to probably be true as Pope Francis probably does not have time to browse the USA today everyday and keep up with our affairs.
To be clear, it seems as though the Pope had no idea who she was, but I do not think it matters. Popes routinely meet with people of all types. Pope Francis recently met with criminals and he even washed their feet. Does that mean he supports what they did? Does that mean he supports everything they support? Of course not. He met with Mark Wahlberg, does that mean he supported TED? (Actually, Mark had the maturity to ask the Pope to forgive him for making the movie. That’s a humble move.)
Information about the meeting
Kim Davis has been a bit more vocal about the meeting than the Vatican. Kim said of the Pope,
“I never thought I would meet the pope,” she said. “Who am I to have this rare opportunity? I am just a county clerk who loves Jesus and desires with all my heart to serve him. Pope Francis was kind, genuinely caring and very personable.”
It also appears that the Pope affirmed her in some fashion by telling her to “stay strong.” That can be taken to mean a hundred different things, but I will let the audience decide for themselves.
Was the Pope tricked into meeting her?
I do not really think so. The Pope would probably meet with anyone but only after he gave the OK. Even though it seems that they have different messages, I am sure he had at lease some idea that he was getting in the middle of a heated issue. Even if he had no idea what she had done he still would have to know that he was in the public eye and that the meeting would mean many different things depending on the observer.
Does the Pope agree with Kim Davis on marriage licenses?
I am not sure it matters since he is unaware of our legal system. Since he only met with her for 15 minutes I am sure that he had very little information on the finer details of our laws and why she was in trouble. Never has so much been made of so little.
Does it matter?
No. This should not even be a news issue. The only reason it is news-worthy is because the recent turmoil in the USA. Any other time and it would be a ho-hum event.