Pope Francis during his trip to the U.S. (Getty Images)

Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who became a hero to homophobes when she refused to issue licenses to same-sex couples, says she met Pope Francis while in Washington D.C. last week. She told ABC News, “I’m just a nobody, so it was really humbling to think he would want to meet or know me.”

Davis was jailed for contempt of court after continuing to deny same-sex marriage licenses, insisting that her religious beliefs prevented her from, well, following the law. Of course, it was immediately noted that she only became Christian four years ago—and has been divorced three times and had two children out of wedlock.

Recounting the meeting, Davis said, “I was crying. I had tears coming out of my eyes… I put my hand out and he reached and he grabbed it, and I hugged him and he hugged me. And he said, ‘thank you for your courage.’” The pope also apparently gave her two rosaries. Davis and her husband were in D.C. to receive the “Cost of Discipleship” award from The Family Research Council.

On his plane back to the Vatican on Monday, the pope showed that he was populist up to a point during a discussion with reporter. From NBC News:

The pontiff was asked: “Do you … support those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws or discharge their duties as government officials, for example when issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples?”

He did not refer specifically to Davis in his reply, saying: “I can’t have in mind all the cases that can exist about conscientious objection … but yes, I can say that conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right.”

Kim Davis in Kentucky (Getty Images)

Vatican spokesman Father Benedettini said, “The Holy See is aware of the reports of Kim Davis meeting with the Holy Father. The Vatican does not confirm the meeting, nor does it deny the meeting. There will be no further information given.” But Inside the Vatican, which first reported the meeting, said its Vatican sources confirmed the meeting, and offered this insight:

What was the purpose of this meeting?

Pope Francis met with Kim, embraced her, encouraged her, and, on the papal airplane, when asked the question cited at the outset, he stated, very strongly, that “conscientious objection” is “a human right.”

It is not surprising that the Holy Father met Kim Davis. The Holy Father is considered by many to be the father of all Christians. He is a man of compassion, a man ready to listen to and to comfort all who have suffered for their faith.

It was the Holy Father’s explicit request to visit a prison in Philadelphia, and he took the time to speak with each of the 100 prisoners he met on that occasion.

This is the attitude that prompted the Holy Father to receive Kim, who had been in jail. And her response, from the very first moment of the meeting, showing great affection toward the Holy Father, showed that she responded to this desire of his to comfort her.

Davis’s lawyer told the NY Times that “he, the Davises and Vatican officials had agreed to keep the meeting secret until the pope had left the United States because, he said, ‘we didn’t want the pope’s visit to be focused on Kim Davis.'”

Earlier this month, Dan Savage said, “She is a hypocrite. This is a woman who’s been divorced three times and married four times. … Jesus Christ himself in Scripture condemns divorce, calls it adultery and forbids it… Jesus Christ in Scripture says not one word about same-sex marriage.” He added that she’s likely looking to “cash in” as a conservative hero, “I predicted from the beginning that she would defy all the court orders, defy the Supreme Court. She would be ultimately be held in contempt of court, lose her job, perhaps go to prison for a short amount of time and then she will have written for her ghost-written books, she will go on the right-wing lecture circuit and she’ll never have to do an honest day’s work ever again in her life.”