In what Inside the Vatican called a "secret meeting," Pope Francis met with Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, who spent time in jail earlier this month for refusing to sign the marriage licenses of same-sex couples.
Asked later by a reporter if he supported officials who said they could not in good conscience issue same-sex marriage licenses, the pope suggested the clerk's religious reason for refusing was as important as the couples' marriage rights.
“I do not recall all specific cases of conscientious objection. But what I can say, is that conscientious objection is a human right,” Francis said. “And if a person does not allow others to be conscientious objectors, then they deny them a right.”
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