Pope Francis With Same-Sex Couple (Photo : Queerty.com)
Pope Francis met both a same-sex couple and the anti-gay marriage clerk when the pontiff was in the U.S. The incident shows how unorthodox the leader of the Roman Catholic Church is, while upholding dogma.
CNN, in an exclusive report, identifies the gay couple as Yayo Grassi and Iwan Bagus. Grassi, a longtime friend of the Pope in Argentina - where he was archbishop of Buenos Aires for many years before he was elected pope in March 2013 - met Pope Francis on Sept. 23 at the Vatican embassy. Pope Francis, who has been more accepting of gays in the church that previous popes, embraced Grassi when they met.
According to Grassi, he arranged through email for the meeting weeks before the Pope's trip to the U.S. He says that three weeks before the meeting, Pope Francis called him and told him that he would give Grassi a hug when they see each other.
A day before the two met, Pope Francis also had a meeting with Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed six days for refusing to issue licenses to same-sex couples. Pope Francis even said that she should not be forced into issuing the licenses. Conservatives were happy with her meeting with Davis and his statement as he still upheld church teachings on homosexuality even despite his liberal ways.
Davis, an Apostolic Christian born to lifelong Catholic parents, said in a statement, "Pope Francis was kind, genuinely caring, and very personable. He even asked me to pray for him. Pope Francis thanked me for my courage and told me to 'stay strong.' The pontiff gave Davis and her husband a rosary each which she would give to her parents, reports CNN.
The 67-year-old Grassi was the student of then Jorge Mario Bergoglio at Immaculada Concepcion where he taught literature and psychology at the Catholic high school in Sante Fe, Argentina, from 1964 to 1965. Grassi, now an atheist, says that Pope Francis knew he is gay and has a male partner, but the pontiff has not condemned his sexual preference or having a same-sex relationship.
Commenting on their meeting, Grassi said, "Obviously he is the pastor of the church and he has to follow the church's teachings," referring possibly to the pope's meeting with Davis. "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," Grassi added.
In 2013, Pope Francis said it is not up to him to judge gay priests who seek God's will in their lives. He had also baptized a child whose mother was single, but living in with a man.
