…that Pope Francis is running for Governor in 2017. (sorry, Pete)
More accurately, it doesn’t mean anything at all. From the Vatican today:
The brief meeting between Mrs. Kim Davis and Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, DC has continued to provoke comments and discussion. In order to contribute to an objective understanding of what transpired I am able to clarify the following points:
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. 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.
Typically, private meetings with the Holy Father are incredibly brief, and typically consist of an exchange of pleasantries followed by a small token from His Holiness (in most instances, a rosary).
That’s it.
So here’s the problem. These meetings are intended to be private — as in, we don’t talk about Fight Club, because people can manipulate Fight Club, and we don’t talk about Fight Club.
Hence all the what-appears-to-be-weirdness from the Vatican:
However, since the private meeting between the pope and Davis “has continued to provoke comments and discussion,” Father Lombardi wrote Oct. 2, he provided a clarification “in order to contribute to an objective understanding of what transpired.”
Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, who assists Father Lombardi with the English-speaking press, told reporters later that depending on what people say after meeting the pope, it is clear “it could be distorted or manipulated; it could be exaggerated.”
He added, “I would find it hard to believe” that Davis and her husband had 15 minutes with the pope; it was more likely that the pope greeted a group of people, including the Davis’, and that all those greetings took 15 minutes or less.
Once again, we have a pastoral moment being abused for political purposes. Which — from the perspective of Pope Francis and his handlers — is awkward beyond awkwardness, not because the Vatican got caught doing anything remotely political… but because a pastoral moment was turned into something the Vatican goes to great lengths to avoid.
Compare this to the visit of Pope Francis to the Little Sisters of the Poor:
The congregation is involved in a lawsuit with the Obama Administration over the country’s new health care law. The government is trying to force the religious community to comply with a contraception mandate in the law, which violates Catholic religious beliefs.
“This is a sign, obviously of support for them [in their court case]” said Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the head of the Holy See Press Office.
“In this sense it is connected also to the words that the Pope has said in support of the Bishops of the United States in the speech to President Obama,” Father Lombardi continued.
“This was a little addition to the programme, but I think it has an important meaning in this moment,” he said.
When the Vatican wants to be clear? They are emphatically clear.
…but for a pastoral moment with an individual?
Let’s say that the Vatican wanted to make a statement vis a vis Kim Davis. What would have been done? Vatican Radio would have said something — simple as that. Not the Protestant-run Liberty Counsel who not only tipped their hand on the private meeting, but is now using it in fundraising appeals. From their 01 October 2015 e-mail:
Right now we have an immediate need of $30,000 above our September budget to help us counter the growing challenges we face. We are handling an unprecedented number of requests from Americans whose livelihoods are being challenged by radicals, whose rights are disintegrating under the rule of judicial activists, and who are receiving threats from so-called “tolerant” pro-homosexual radicals.
Please help us meet this growing need with a gift of any amount today. Every gift matters. If you are able, please consider making an especially generous gift at this urgent hour.
See how that works?
Short verison? Liberty Counsel appears to be taking advantage of a private meeting with Pope Francis for financial gain. At the very least to any causal observer, they have certainly taken advantage of a private meeting with the Holy Father in a way that clearly caught the Vatican off guard.
