Secretly? Wow, that was bold of him.
I thought so too. But consider this: if he met with her (and I’ll wait for confirmation from the Vatican) he did so in a manner consistant with meeting those experiencing political persecution for their religious beliefs.
In a way thats actually a more powerful statement than if he met with her in a big public meeting. It’s an acknowlegement that she IS being persecuted for her beliefs.
Add the statements made on the plane to that, and it presents a pretty clear picture.
An added, perhaps intentionally so, benefit is that the Progressives have just spent a week completely validating him as a source of moral and political authority. This gets the kind of wide play it probably will and they’re trapped in a corner. You can’t be selective on seeing someone as a moral authority, either they are or they aren’t.