Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis said
Wednesday that she and her husband met privately with Pope Francis
last week in Washington D.C.
The Vatican has confirmed that the
meeting took place.
Davis earlier this month spent five
days in jail for refusing to comply with the Supreme Court's summer
ruling striking down gay marriage bans in all 50 states. Davis said
that issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples would
violate her conscience.
“I was crying. I had tears coming
out of my eyes,” Davis told ABC
News. “I'm just a nobody, so it was really humbling to think
he would want to meet or know me.”
On his return trip to Rome, Francis
told reporters that government workers have a “human right” to
refuse to participate in a duty if they feel doing so would violate
their conscience, which seemed like an endorsement of Davis' actions.
(Related: Pope
Francis: Kim Davis has “human right” to refuse gay couples.)
“I put my hand out and he reached and
he grabbed it, and I hugged him and he hugged me. And he said,
'thank you for your courage,'” Davis said.
“He told me before he left, he said,
'stay strong.' That was a great encouragement. Just knowing that
the pope is on track with what we're doing, it kind of validates
everything to have someone of that stature.”