Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis said
earlier this month that she hopes her public opposition to marriage
equality encourages others to act.
Davis is the elected clerk of Rowan
county who earlier this year defied a federal judge's ruling ordering
her office to issue marriage licenses to all qualified couples.
Davis refused, claiming that to issue such licenses to gay and
lesbian couples would violate her conscience.
Davis, an Apostolic Christian, met with
Pope Francis on September 24. While the Vatican has said that the
meeting “should not be considered a form of support for her
position,” Davis has continued to suggest that Francis offered his
support to her.
(Related: Vatican:
Pope Francis' meeting with Kim Davis not a form of support.)
“He said, 'I want to thank you for
your courage and ask you to pray for me,'” Davis said in an
interview earlier this month with the Catholic TV network EWTN. “I
took his hands in my hands, and his hands are so soft, and I said, 'I
will pray for you and will ask you to pray for me.' He grinned.”
“And he presented my husband and I
with a rosary. He said, 'Stay strong.' Told me to stay strong.”
“Why do you think it was important to
share that meeting?” EWTN's
Catherine Szeltner asked.
“The stand I took affects every
church, every person that lives and loves God, that holds the word of
God precious and dear and intimate in their lives,” she answered.
“I'm just the first of what's going to be very many. You can rest
assured of that. And it's not if it happens, it'll be when it
happens. And maybe my stand will encourage others who will be in the
same position.”