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How Pope Francis Proved to be a Coward


Posted: Oct 3, 2015

Michelangelo Signorile Become a fan Gay Voices Editor-at-Large, The Huffington Post

 

After first refusing to confirm nor deny it, the Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis met with the Kentucky clerk Kim Davis at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, where Davis' attorney -- who made the news public after the pope's trip ended -- said Francis told her to "stay strong." And that simple encounter completely undermines all the goodwill the pope created in downplaying "the gay issue" on his U.S. trip. 

The pope played us for fools, trying to have it both ways. As I noted last week, he's an artful politician, telling different audiences what they want to hear on homosexuality. He did that in Argentina as a cardinal -- railing against gay marriage when the Vatican expected him to do so -- and he's done that since becoming pope, striking a softer tone on the issue after Benedict's harsh denunciations were a p.r. disaster for the Catholic Church in the West. But this news about Kim Davis portrays him as a more sinister kind of politician. That's the kind that secretly supports hate, ushering the bigots in the back door -- knowing they're an embarrassment -- while speaking publicly about about how none of us can judge one another. 

I would have more respect for the pope if he had publicly embraced Kim Davis and made an argument for her, as he did in his visit with the Little Sisters of the Poor, who are battling against filling out a form to exempt themselves from Obamacare's contraception requirement, claiming that even filling out the form violates their religious liberty -- even though I vehemently disagree with the pope on that issue. I'd have more respect if he boldly, explicitly made a public statement (not the vague, general statement he made on his plane on the way home only in response to a reporter's question about Davis), as he did in trying to stop the execution of a Georgia inmate who was put to death this morning. But by meeting with Davis secretly, and then at first having the Vatican neither confirm nor deny the encounter -- and now having the Vatican say it "won't deny" the meeting while it still won't offer any other details -- the pope comes off as a coward. 

He shows himself to be antithetical to much of what he preaches and teaches. He talks about dialogue and having the courage of one's convictions and the courage to speak out. But he swept this Davis meeting under the rug, seemingly ashamed and certainly not wanting to broach the subject. Even Davis's supporters should find that insulting to them.

We all knew Francis was playing a p.r. game, and we were fine with that. He was focusing on climate change, immigration and other issues passionate to him -- and certainly I, and I hope everyone, still welcome whatever influence he can have on those issues. And it appeared he viewed the LGBT rights debate as a distraction from a focus on those causes. He even told U.S. bishops in a meeting during his trip that they should stop complaining about it and turn their attention to other issues. The sense was that he was probably not passionate about gay rights, but not passionate about attacking them either. 

But by telling Davis that she should "stay strong" -- if her attorney's account of the encounter is to be believed -- the pope is only encouraging the bigots, even if he's doing so quietly. We don't know all the details yet regarding how Davis came to meet Francis -- if, for example, it was one of the more vocally anti-gay U.S. Catholic Church leaders who brought her along, or if the Vatican invited her.

But the optics of it are bad no matter what. Rather than moving us forward on LGBT rights ever so slightly, as many viewed the pope as doing, he now, with this meeting, emboldens the haters in the church who will be pushing to make sure church doctrine continues to call homosexuality "intrinsically disordered." And it sends a message to all those people who've experienced anti-gay discrimination -- like the Catholic school teachers fired from their jobs in the U.S. simply because of who they are -- that this pope is not going to end that discrimination any time soon. Rather than stopping that discrimination, he welcomed, with open arms in the Vatican's own embassy, the bigots who promote that discrimination but who've turned themselves into the victims.

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He's the one who invited Davis, but then walked back the - fact that they met. According to

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Reuters...

"On the flight back to Rome, he was asked if he supported individuals, including government officials, who refuse to abide by some laws, such as issuing marriage licenses to gays. 'Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right,' Francis said. However, Davis' lawyer, Mat Staver, told The Associated Press that the Vatican initiated the meeting as an affirmation of her right to be conscientious objector.

"He said an unnamed Vatican official initiated the meeting on Sept. 14, the day Davis returned to work after being jailed, saying the pope wanted to meet her. He said Vatican security picked up her and her husband from their hotel and told her to change her hairdo so she wouldn't be recognized since the Vatican wanted the meeting kept secret. Staver disputed a Vatican spokesman's claims that the pope only met Davis in a 'farewell lineup' or receiving line. He said the couple was in a separate room with Francis and Vatican security and personnel."

The Judas manuever. - NM

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xx

I've heard it said that the most dynamic religion in the world is - leftism. I guess like some

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religions, people embrace it as the truth on blind faith without ever questioning it, and it spreads through peer pressure. When everyone else is telling you it’s true and also shaming you if you don’t change your opinion, more converts come into the flock.

With no offense to the Pope, he seems willing to pick and choose from the Bible or offer selective enforcement of God’s law. Whatever the Pope thinks he is doing, he is most certainly in the process of replacing one religion with another. It's called reformation and reinterpretation of theology. There are no clear brakes on where he might take things once the traditional scripture is ignored whenever it conflicts with the popular radical views of the day.

I don't know why the Vatican is backtracking on meeting with Kim Davis. You can't just go meet him without his ambassador setting the meeting up. It sounds like he wanted to keep the meeting secret. I wonder why.

"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set - you free." John 8:32. It seems

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as though truth is not the objective in this world anymore.

I remember the little migrant girl hand a letter to the Pope, - but the same thing happened in Rome,

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exactly in the same way. I don't know what to believe as "truth" anymore, even with a Pope.

Kim Davis and her attorneys are liars. - sm

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This meeting and elaborate concocted story were all done behind the Pope's back and the media and American people bought the story hook, line and sinker! How pathetic and unChristlike.

This opinion piece is a lie. You can't just go visit the Pope, - you have to be invited.

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I realize the text of the "manifesto" is complete gibberish.
Kim Davis' attorney is an acquaintance... - sm
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and anti-gay activist with the Vatican ambassador to the U.S. who was in charge of the invites for the public meeting with the Pope in Washington. I suspect the archbishop will soon encounter the wrath of the Holy See for enabling the Pope's visit to be politicized.
So they can say whoever made the decision it took - the Pope by "surprise"
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and apologies will be made.

I don't buy it.
I'm wary of twitter feeds. - NM
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NM

I'll bet there are gonna be a LOT of "Kim Davis" - Halloween costumes this year....

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because she is one SCARY lady. She's an example of the blindly religulous at their best.

I think the ambassador was expecting this Pope to - follow through in a more traditional

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manner. Then he did not, embarrassing all concerned.

First we are told the meeting came at the invitation of a high - ranking Vatican official

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acting on behalf of the Pope himself.

According to a person involved in arranging the meeting but who requested anonymity, the Vatican official called Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican who is well known in Rome. The official asked Moynihan if he could help arrange a meeting while the Pope was in the United States.

More at link.

Now we are told something else. Why would Kim Davis' lawyers make this up? They know they will be challenged.

I don't care anymore.

So wait a minute. Why are Christians in a - tizzy about their "Hero" meeting the Pop

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Not so long ago, Christians were hailing her as a "martyr". Now not so much?

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