To counter lies of Davis and lawyers, a video has now been released

[pnwmom]

of the only private meeting Pope Francis did have while in Washington.

With a former student, who is openly gay, and his partner and their family.

The rightwing lost on their little stunt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/world/europe/pope-francis-kim-davis-meeting.html


“The pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis, and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said in a statement released Friday morning.

On the other hand, Mr. Grassi, a 67-year-old caterer, told The New York Times that he and the pontiff have known each other since the 1960s, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as the future pope was then called, taught him literature and psychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepción, a Jesuit high school in Santa Fe, Argentina.

SNIP

Mr. Grassi said that he had resumed contact with the future pope years later, when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. He also visited the pope at the Vatican in September 2013, and later contacted his office to ask for an audience in Washington.

“Once I saw how busy and exhausting his schedule was in D.C., I wrote back to him saying perhaps it would be better to meet some other time,” Mr. Grassi said. “Then he called me on the phone and he told me that he would love to give me a hug in Washington.”

Mr. Grassi said that he had been accompanied by his partner of 19 years, Iwan Bagus, as well as four friends, and that the meeting took place at the Vatican Embassy on Sept. 23 — a day before Ms. Davis met the pope.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. As I understand it, the "meeting" consisted of a group of people who stood and greeted him

as he arrived.
It was clumpish receiving line, more or less.

[tanyev]

2. LOL. This is almost better than if there had been no meeting.

Now Kim and supporters are getting a papal smackdown.

[bulloney]

3. Maybe now would be a good time for Ms. Davis to make her first confession.

And lying about yourself and the Pope is a whopper of a sin to have on your first go-round.

[rbrnmw]

24. That's like worth 2500 Hail Marys,

Maybe more

[C Moon]

25. That's a lot of long passes!

[rbrnmw]

26. That might be a better penance than the prayer

[alfredo]

31. She's probably better than Tebow.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. So Is Everyone Else!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

[alfredo]

39. Cheap shots are welcomed.

[pnwmom]

5. That's the irony. This gay friend has already met with the Pope in Rome.

And many times over the course of their lives.

But it's only public now because of the Kim Davis situation.

[hifiguy]

7. Lying reichwing liars caught in lie.

Whoda thunk it?

[DawgHouse]

13. Shocking!

[spanone]

4. the liberty lawyers seem to be experts at lying.....the Pope kissed the gay men ms. davis!!!!!!!

[pnwmom]

6. Yup. And he kissed them on VIDEO.

[tblue37]

10. Actually, not "expert." If they were even competent, much less "expert," in their

lying, they wouldn't get caught out at it in such an embarrassing way.

Just because they do something often, that doesn't mean they do it well.

[spanone]

17. i concur..!

[awoke_in_2003]

23. "experts at lying"

well, they are lawyers

[struggle4progress]

8. It's not entirely clear who released that video but I don't think it was the Vatican

Some news sources say Grassi's partner shot the video; several say that Grassi and his partner have both posted the video; according to others, Grassi says it was posted online without his permission

Perhaps Grassi's partner shot it then posted it without asking Grassi?

[pnwmom]

14. You're right, it was probably Grassi or his partner. The WA post story

said Grassi decided to speak out.

And the Vatican would not have released anything without at least getting everyone's permission.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. 'Some of my best friends are gay, so it's ok that I say their marriage was Satan's idea!'

Next, Republicans not racist because Condi Rice exists! There will be video!

You reap what you sow. You lie down with dogs, you get fleas. He who digs a pit shall fall in it.

[Rex]

11. Won't matter the fundies will just say the Vatican is now hiding the footage.

Liars have no boundaries.

[zeemike]

21. You are right it won't matter.

The deed is done, and it had the desired effect...here on DU we saw the Fuck the pope posts and we will still have them even though the truth is made clear.
The right wing knows just how to manipulate us and their own.

[deutsey]

12. K&R

[Iggo]

15. Oh my gawd. He's playing the "I've got a gay friend" card?

Kim Davis: Against Marriage Equality.

Pope Frank: Against Marriage Equality.

[pnwmom]

16. No, his gay friend is playing the "I've got a friend in the Vatican" card.

The friend, Yayo Grassi, is the one who decided to come forward.

[Iggo]

18. "Hey, Yayo. Yeah, Frank here. I'm kinda in a spot over the Kim Davis thing."

"Can ya help a brother out?"

[pnwmom]

19. Then the Pope really does have super-powers. Amazing how he could get that

meeting with his friends arranged AND videotaped before he ever knew there would be a "Kim Davis thing."

[LynneSin]

20. +1

nice

[Iggo]

33. Nope. He's just a politician. No super powers.

Probably didn't think he'd have to use his "secret" Look-I-Have-A-Gay-Friend video so soon, though.

Damn that Kim Davis!!!

[pnwmom]

34. He's had that friend for decades, and he's seen him repeatedly through the years,,

as recently as 2013.

The Pope has never pretended to be anything other than a normal human being, and human beings all need friends. This is one of his from way back.

[mdbl]

22. isn't Kim Davis supposed to be back in jail?

Why the hell is she trotting around free when she is still breaking the law? Will we get the same considerations when we break the laws with which we don't agree?

[Thinkingabout]

27. Kim Davis is promoting her book by any means.

[Judi Lynn]

28. Fantastic catch, pnwmom. Wow. Loving this news, so much. I hope it burns for these liars. n/t

[Octafish]

30. Odd how fast everyone in the news biz (and lotta DU) sided with Fox News favorite former Democrat.

OTOH:

Did an Archbishop from Kentucky troll the Pope?

Talk about conservative.

Joseph Kurtz, the archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wouldn’t comment on the meeting itself and how it came about, noting that he stayed about a mile away from the nunciature where Pope Francis stayed during his visit to D.C. But “I can comment on the fact that in Kentucky, I had said that I’m not a lawyer or a politician, but I had certainly hoped that room could be made for people of conscience,” he said on Wednesday. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was the primary coordinator of the pope’s schedule during his visit to the United States.

-- Emma Green, The Atlantic, "Why Did Pope Francis Meet With Kim Davis?"

"I was a mile away at the time."

[REP]

29. Pope Frankie McDreamy lays PR turd; frantically tries to cover the scent

[beam me up scottie]

32. +1

Why are people pretending he's not still a raging homophobe who doesn't think lgbt people deserve the same human rights as everyone else?

[skepticscott]

35. Exactly

He and his handlers felt his liberal support evaporating like a snowball in hell, and are giving themselves whiplash with all of the backpedaling.

But everyone in this thread (yes, you) and elsewhere needs to remember this, every time you defend him, every time you sigh in admiration of him, every time you congratulate yourself for being a progressive:

Francis firmly believes, and advocates publicly and vigorously that an entire class of adult beings should be deprived of their full human rights, simply because of who and what they are. No decent, thinking person could hesitate to label that as bigotry.

[Gothmog]

36. I do not believe Davis' counsel on anything

[ProfessorGAC]

38. ^^^This^^^

Opinions of the pope notwithstanding, anything she or her legal counsel says is likely to be made up nonsense.