Vatican confirms meeting between Kim Davis and Pope Francis

The Vatican confirmed Wednesday morning that Pope Francis met with Kim Davis — the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses — at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C. The meeting is said to have taken place last Thursday — the same day the pope addressed Congress and met with Speaker John Boehner.

Davis’s lawyer told the New York Times that the private meeting was organized by the Vatican and lasted 15 minutes. During that time, Pope Francis gave her two rosaries and told her to “stay strong.”

“Just knowing the pope is on track with what we’re doing, and agreeing, you know, kind of validates everything,” Davis told ABC News this morning.

Last week, a reporter asked the pope what he thought of government officials who refused to perform their duties due to religious objections. Pope Francis said that “conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right … conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right, a human right. Otherwise, we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying, ‘This right, that has merit; this one does not.’ ”

The conservative magazine “Inside the Vatican” was first to report the meeting.