Pope Francis and Kim Davis

Like so many others, I heard about Francis' meeting with Kim Davis with a heavy heart. I read Father James Martin's conciliatory Facebook entry yesterday with some misgiving: it seemed so unlikely that Francis, an intelligent and thoughtful man if ever there was one, could have met this lady unless he wanted to make a point. The question in everyone's minds was, I think, what exactly was the point he was trying to make? I read many conflicting replies to Father Martin's post (and there were nearly 300 when I last looked) and remained unconvinced and flummoxed until I read an article from "Esquire" magazine linked somewhere in the original post. The cynicism was shocking but today it is becoming clear, through a Vatican spokesman no less, that it was indeed the American Nuncio who arranged for her to be there and who presumably organised for the media to find out.  There is a link in the Esquire post to a Washington Post article about the apparent backlash that is brewing amongst the conservatives in the church, most notably in the American branch. I really shouldn't be surprised, though it is so hard to comprehend that there really are Catholics out there who cannot love Francis. 

And then today, a really interesting development which should do much to reassure.