This meeting was first reported by the ‘Inside the Vatican’ journalist Robert Moynihan. Vatican confirmed it only this afternoon (Wednesday, September 30, 2015) since Vatican officials didn’t want to politicize the issue.

On Thursday, September 24^th afternoon, after his historic address to the Congress, just a few minutes before flying to New York City, Pope Francis received, spoke with, and embraced Kim Davis — the Kentucky County Clerk who was jailed, for 5 days in early September, for refusing to sign the marriage licenses of homosexual couples who wished to have their civil marriages certified by the state of Kentucky.

Kim and her husband had come to Washington for another purpose — Kim was to receive a “Cost of Discipleship” award on Friday, September 25, from The Family Research Council at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. They met privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C., for less than 15 minutes, according to her lawyer, Mat Staver.

There is no recording of this conversation, or photographs, as far as I know. Kim Davis gave an account of the meeting to Robert Moynihan, shortly after it took place. She told Moynihan that the Pope spoke in English and there was no interpreter. Pope told her in reply, “thank you for your courage”. Kim then said, “Thank you, Holy Father”.

She said she had asked a monsignor earlier what was the proper way to greet the Pope, and whether it would be appropriate for her to embrace him, and she had been told it would be okay to hug him. “So I hugged him, and he hugged me back. It was an extraordinary moment”.

“Stay strong,” Pope told her. Then he gave her a rosary as a gift, and one also to her husband, Joe. She broke into tears, and was deeply moved.

“Then Pope told her, ‘Please pray for me.’ And Kim told Pope, “Please pray for me also, Holy Father.” And Pope assured her that he would pray for her.

Joe, Kim’s husband said that he would give his rosary to her mother, who is a Catholic. And Kim then said that she would give her rosary to her father, who is also a Catholic. Both Kim and Joe belong to a non-Catholic Apostolic Christian Church.

Vatican sources have confirmed that this meeting did occur. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, didn't deny the encounter took place, but said today (September 30) in Rome he had no comment on the topic.

In her interview to ABC news today Kim Davis said, “I was crying. I had tears coming out of my eyes," she said. "I'm just a nobody, so it was really humbling to think he would want to meet or know me.”