Knifed in the back by a Pope who asked to meet her.
Within hours, in flight back to Rome, the Pope explicitly supported the right of conscientious objection in cases where people refuse to participate in any aspect of "gay marriage." He explicitly said that applies to government employees/officials as well as private citizens.
So far, so good.
A couple days later, after "unnamed Vatican sources" (which could just as well mean "the invisible friends of of Philip Pullella at Reuters") started to cast doubt about whether this meeting happened at all, official Vatican Press Spokesman Federico Lombardi refuted that charge.
What Lombardi himself said, was chilly, calibrated lawyer-talk (not exactly warm or brave or bold) but not a denial or repudiation: he simply confirmed that the meeting took place (true), said it was one of many such meetings (true), and the Pope Francis did not necessarily endorse the "intricacies" of her case (which is no more than what Kim Davis' lawyer Matt Staver himself said.)
All the crapstorm thereafter has been generated by people who "prefer not to be named", and their media echo-chamber allies who endlessly repeat every insult, innuendo, and calumny. All the nasty memes: "a sense of regret"? Anonymous source. "Pope was blindsided"? Anonymous source. "They didn't know Kim Davis was toxic"? Anonymous source.
I, myself, thought the Pope was not as strong as he should have been. He should have addressed Congress flanked by Kim Davis and the Little Sisters of the Poor.
However, he supported her, and even the weaselly Lombardi confirmed the facts. That's not "knifing her in the back."
That distinction goes to a huge cast of twisters, shavers, and gibbering Orcs who all took turns mocking distorting, and twisting the knife. Too numerous to name. Though I would want to cast the spotlight on Thomas Rosica and Philip Pullella.