Posted on 10/02/2015 11:54:35 AM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 2, 20015 (LifeSiteNews) -- Hours after the Vatican distanced itself from embattled Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, CNN has reported Pope Francis met privately with a gay couple and their friends while in the U.S.
"Three weeks before the trip, he called me on the phone and said he would love to give me a hug," Yayo Grassi told CNN. Grassi was a student of Pope Francis' in the 1960s in Argentina.
In its statement this morning about the pope’s meeting with Kim Davis, the Vatican press office had said that Davis was just one of a large group of people with whom the pope had briefly met at the nunciature.
The press release added that "the only real audience granted by the Pope at the nunciature (embassy) was with one of his former students and his family."
Grassi says that former student was himself and his gay partner.
"That was me," Grassi said.
While Grassi says the pope has always known of Grassi's same-sex sexual attractions, Francis has not condemned the former student's sexuality or relationships. Grassi had previously met with the pope, along with Grassi's boyfriend Iwan, in Rome.
CNN reports that a video shows Pope Francis hugging both men and kissing them on the cheek.
"He has never been judgmental," Grassi said. "He has never said anything negative."
"Obviously he is the pastor of the church and he has to follow the church's teachings," Grassi noted. "But as a human being he understands all kinds of situations, and he is open to all kinds of people, including those with different sexual characteristics."
While Grassi says he is close to the pope, they have also had their disagreements about sexuality. In 2010, then-Cardinal Jorge Margio Bergoglio indicated that same-sex "marriage" is of Satan; Grassi wrote him an e-mail that said "You have been my guide, continuously moving my horizons—you have shaped the most progressive aspects of my worldview."
"And to hear this from you is so disappointing," wrote Grassi, who told CNN that the cardinal replied, saying he was sorry to have upset the former student, vowing that "homophobia" was not acceptable in the Catholic Church.
However, National Geographic Magazine, which first reported on the e-mail exchange added that the pope “did not disavow” what he had said about same-sex ‘marriage.’
Grassi also told CNN that he believes the pope was “misled” into meeting with Davis.
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The Vatican just blew any chance it had of conservatives (both Catholic and otherwise) putting any confidence in anything Pope Francis says.
He supported Davis—then, no, it was just a chance encounter (for which she was flown from Kentucky). Or, no, he was exploited by her supporters.
You see, he really ONLY met with two people, who btw just happened to be a same-sex couple.
Right...
I( know what to believe about this guy and its not nice. He is to the Catholic CHurch as Barack Hussein Obama is to America.
Wow. Just, wow.
“I was for Kim Davis before I was against her”.
It's hard to know what to believe here, but I am certain that I don't trust Pope Francis.
National Geographic is another Lefty wildebeest in the herd of independent minds. If they say the Pope didn't disavow his statement that the same-sex marriage campaign is from the devil, you can bet the ranch on it. As the lawyers tell you, if someone speaks "against interest," it's true about 99 percent of the time.
Okay, they want to poke a stick in CNN's eye for claiming an "exclusive" on this territory. But there are lots of other ways they could have done that.
We'll all have to wait and see what happens to the Papal Nuncio who set up the Francis/Kim Davis meeting. If he's bounced to a job as confessor in an elderly nuns' retirement home, we can take that as a clue, I guess.
Don't get your sources mixed up—it's 3-card monte posing as journalism. CNN is trying to pass off this poofter Grassi, a private (homosexual) individual, as a Vatican source. Looks like CNN also used him earlier as an anonymous source "close to the Pope" (Eew).
The Pope is what he is, for sure. But he has shown no indication of being inconstant in his teaching against sodomy or abortion.
It would be interesting to know who arranged the invite for Kim Davis and what, if anything, the Pope was told about her situation beforehand.
Gosh, I wonder why Grassi would say that. Really? So we have to demand that the Pope reject an old friend and then we have to take what that old friend says as the truth?
formerly gay ?
or
formerly a student ?
Here’s how I see this:
Being Pope is both a spiritual and political situation. Ostensibly spiritual, but there’s no way to prevent the political from entering the equation. Especially since those who surround the Pope ARE political animals first and foremost.
The Pope met with Davis as a spiritual endeavor, to give comfort and bless someone who is suffering persecution for her faith.
But now it’s switched to politics as the various interests start maneuvering to get it to fit their particular agenda. And in doing so really highlights the dichotomy involved.
The best position I think for Conservatives to take is that the Popes meeting with Davis may not have been an endorsement, but it most certainly was a sign of the abject hatred she’s being subjected to for her faith. With the hatred subsequently directed at the Pope for daring to meet with her a validation of the hatred held by those who oppose her.
I don’t dispute that he met with them. I went on a trip (along with my husband and granddaughter and about 300 other bike riders) with our friend who is attracted to other men sexually. Had he and a partner been sleeping together in our RV it would have been a problem but he didn’t and it wasn’t. He knows who I am, a conservative Catholic, and I know who he is, a child of God. We disagree about the death penalty. He’s a huge proponent, I’m still thinking about it. He loathes Obama. On that we agree. Another long time friend called and wanted advice about how to financially protect his long time partner. I gave him advice. He also knows who I am etc.
I would be very interested to know who got Kim Davis the invite and whether the Pope knew who she was and her situation before the reception.
I certainly don't fault Francis for having an old friend who happens to be a homosexual. However, he also needs to realize that he is a public figure and EVERYTHING he did in the U.S. was going to be subject to intense scrutiny and debate.
I agree on all points. Well observed.
I do think the meeting with Mrs. Davis was a recognition that he surmises she is sincerely and legitimately suffering for Christ, and is doing the right thing. He can meet anyone he wants, and he met with her, no matter how the lizards in the Vatican press office (whom we always have with us) try to spin it. The Pope believes in illegal immigration, unfortunately. But he also has made it clear he believes in real marriage, and that the other thing is from the devil.
The LSM (which includes the Vatican press office) is in full-panic mode, and spinning away.
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