NEW REPORTS INDICATE THAT THE
POPE MET WITH A SAME-SEX COUPLE PRIOR TO MEETING WITH KIM DAVIS,
AND ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT HE MET WITH HER WAS A LONG TIME
FRIEND OF HIS THAT HE TAUGHT
BACK IN THE DAY.
YAYO GRASSI, AN OPENLY GAY MAN BROUGHT HIS PARTNER, AS WELL
AS SEVERAL FRIENDS TO THE VATICAN EMBASSY ON SEPTEMBER 23.
YAYO GRASSI IS THE MAN, AND THERE IS A PICTURE SHOWING
THEM HERE.
ARE THEY TOUCHING?
HE IS GAY.
I LOVE THIS STORY.
WHEN THE POPE MET WITH KIM DAVIS PEOPLE
WERE CRITICIZING HIM FOR IT.
I DID NOT KNOW WHAT IT WAS ABOUT,
AND IT TURNS OUT THAT NOW THE VATICAN IS RELEASING A STATEMENT
THAT SAYS HIM MEETING WITH KIM DAVIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF
WHAT SHE HAS DONE, HE JUST MET
WITH HER.
BUT IN THE CASE OF GRASSI, HE WENT OUT OF THE WAY
TO MEET WITH HIM BECAUSE HE KNEW HIM FROM ARGENTINA.
IN THE PAST, THEY HAD A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP
BECAUSE THE POPE WASN'T A FAN OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.
HE WAS CALLED OUT ON IT, AND PEOPLE BACKTRACKED ON IT,
WHICH IS ADMIRABLE.
IT WAS A STATEMENT FROM THE VATICAN SAYING THAT IT WAS
NOT A SHOW OF SUPPORT.
THEY SLAMMED DOWN THE CONSERVATIVES WHO WERE
REJOICING IN THAT MOMENT, AS WELL AS THEY COULD.
THE POPE DELIBERATELY DOES NOT GET VERY POLITICAL, BUT YOU
DID NOT HAVE TO READ VERY FAR BETWEEN THE LINES TO GET
THE POINT.
DO NOT TAKE THAT AS AN ENDORSEMENT.
SO I LIKE THAT, AND THEN WE FIND OUT HERE THAT HE MET WITH A
SAME-SEX COUPLE THAT HE KNEW WAS A SAME-SEX COUPLE.
I LOVE THAT.
HE OBVIOUSLY SEEMS A LITTLE MORE PROGRESSIVE
THAN PREVIOUS POPES, AND SOME
PEOPLE ARE QUESTIONING THAT.
THE FACT THAT HE HAS THIS FRIEND
HAS PLAYED A ROLE IN SHAPING WHAT HIS PERCEPTION IS OF GAY PEOPLE, AND
THAT IS IMPORTANT.
THAT IS WHY THERE IS A LOT MORE OPENNESS AND TOLERANCE
TOWARDS GAY PEOPLE THAN THERE WAS TEN YEARS AGO, BECAUSE
EVERYONE KNOWS SOMEONE WHO IS GAY.
TRUST ME, EVERY PAST POPE FOR THE LAST 100 YEARS HAS KNOWN GAY
PEOPLE.
THEY HAVE, BUT WERE THEY AS CLOSE AS THIS POPE WAS WITH
ROSSI?
HERE IS WHAT YAYO GROSSI TOLD THE MEDIA.
HE SAID THAT A
FEW WEEKS BEFORE THE TRIP THE POPE CALLED HIM ON THE PHONE AND
SAID HE WOULD LOVE TO GIVE HIM A HUG.
HE SAID THAT THE POPE HAS
LONG KNOWN THAT HE WAS GAY, BUT HAS NEVER CONDEMNED HIS
SEXUALITY OR HIS SAME-SEX
RELATIONSHIP.
I THINK THIS IS GOOD NEWS.
HE IS A GOOD POPE.
THAT STATEMENT ñ
POPE DID NOT ENTER SERIOUS DETAILS WITH MISS KIM
DAVIS, I LIKE THE CAREFUL NATURE OF THAT
STATEMENT.
INTERESTINGLY, GRASSI AND THE POPE HAD A
FALLING OUT IN 2010 OVER HIS
STANCE ON SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS, BECAUSE OF THE
POPE, WHILE HE WAS A CARDINAL,
SUGGESTED THAT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL.
APPARENTLY, THIS WAS DURING ARGENTINA'S HEATED DEBATE OVER
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN 2010,
GRASSI CHASTISED THE POPE FOR OBJECTING
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.
APPARENTLY HE WROTE THE POPE AND SAID HOW
DISAPPOINTING IT WAS.
AND THE POPE WROTE BACK AND SAID HE WAS SORRY THAT HE UPSET
HIM, AND THAT HOMOPHOBIA HAD NO PLACE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
NOR DOES GAY MARRIAGE, ACCORDING TO THE POPE TODAY.
THE POPE CANNOT COME FORWARD AND SAY HE SUPPORTS
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.
I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE DOES.
HE DOES NOT, BECAUSE HE IS THE POPE.
BUT COULD HE NOT JUST MAKE A RULING?
HE COULD NOT CHANGE CHURCH DOCTRINE.
ISN'T HE SUPPOSED TO HAVE A DIRECT LINE TO GOD?
HE CAN SAY IT.
HE CAN SAY WHATEVER HE WANTS.
THAT SAID,
WE DO NOT HAVE TO READ FAR BETWEEN THE LINES TO, AGAIN, SEE
THIS GUY AS ñ HE HAS DIFFERENT POINTS OF EMPHASIS, AND
EVERYTHING IS GENERALLY A
PROCESS.
IF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH EVER TURNS AROUND ON SOME
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES, IF THEY EVER DECIDE, OKAY WE ARE NOT ALLOWING
ABORTION BUT BIRTH CONTROL IS OKAY; WE ARE NOT BUSY
CONDEMNING GAY PEOPLE OR WOMEN
WHO HAVE HAD ABORTIONS.
IF THEY EVER CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY,
IT WILL BEGIN WITH POPE FRANCIS.
THESE ARE SMALL STEPPINGSTONES, BUT STEPPINGSTONES NONETHELESS.
WHO RELEASED THE VIDEO OF THEM MEETING?
I HAVE NO IDEA, IT IS A VERY BRIEF VIDEO.
I AM SURE THAT THE MEETING BETWEEN KIM DAVIS WAS ARRANGED
BY THE SAME PERSON WHO WENT,
WHO TRICKED HIM BY SAYING,
HERE IS A WOMAN, SHE SUPPORTS CHRISTIANITY, TAKE A PICTURE
WITH HER.
AND BOOM, HE IS OUT THE DOOR.
ANYWAY, THIS WAS A NICE COMEBACK TO THE KIM DAVIS MEETING.
ABSOLUTELY.
AND GOOD FOR THIS YAYO GRASSI.
THIS IS HIS IDOL, HE KNEW HE WAS A CARDINAL, AND HE WROTE TO
HIM SAYING IT WAS WRONG, AND THE POPE WROTE BACK TO HIM.
IT IS NICE WHEN GROWNUPS ACT LIKE GROWN-UPS, EVEN WHEN
ONE OF THE GROWN-UPS, THE POPE IN THIS CASE, IS WRONG.
THE POPE RECENTLY RECEIVED A LETTER FROM A WOMAN WHO WRITES
CHILDREN'S BOOKS.
SHE IS A LESBIAN IN A SAME-SEX
RELATIONSHIP, AND SO SHE WROTE TO THE POPE AND TALKED ABOUT THE
INTOLERANCE TOWARDS THE GAY COMMUNITY BY THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH.
THE POPE HAD WRITTEN BACK TO HER AND BASICALLY
BLESSED HER, AND WAS VERY
OPEN-MINDED TO HER.
SHE SHARED THE LETTER THAT THE POPE WROTE
BACK, AND IMMEDIATELY THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH STARTED DOING DAMAGE CONTROL.
HE IS NOT
SUPPORTIVE OF GAY MARRIAGE, BUT I FEEL LIKE HE IS BEING HELD
BACK BY THE STANDARDS WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
IT IS
DIFFICULT, EVEN IF YOU ARE THE LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH,
IT IS DIFFICULT TO CHANGE THE WAY THINGS HAVE BEEN DONE FOR SO
LONG.
I FEEL LIKE THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF HOPE WITH HIM.