MOREHEAD, Kentucky – Pope Francis met secretly in Washington, D. C., last week with the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for defying a federal court order to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

The disclosure was made by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’s lawyer, Matthew D. Staver of the Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit litigation organization that promotes religious freedom.

“I was humbled to meet Pope Francis. Of all people, why me?” Davis said in a statement. “… I am just a county clerk who loves Jesus and desires with all my heart to serve him.”

Staver said Davis and her husband, Joe, were invited to a private audience with the pope at the Vatican Embassy in Washington and that the pontiff presented them with blessed rosaries and told her to “stay strong.”

“The pope came to her and held out his hand,” said Staver, adding that she embraced it and then hugged the pope. He was in the nation’s capital to address Congress as part of his whirlwind visit to the United States last week.

Staver said Davis asked the pope to pray for her and he, in turn, asked for her prayers. Staver said they spoke in English, and that Davis was moved by the pope’s words of comfort.

Davis is not a Roman Catholic, but Staver said her parents are, and she will give the rosaries to them. Davis describes herself as an Apostolic Christian, a form of evangelical religion.

She has been at the center of a legal, religious and political controversy by steadfastly refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples despite the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June legalizing gay marriage nationwide. She was held in contempt of court by a federal judge on Sept. 2 and spent six days in jail. Since her release, she has allowed her deputy clerks to issue licenses but without her signature or name attached to them.

Staver said the meeting with the pope was arranged by Vatican officials. He said they asked to meet with Davis while she was in Washington to receive an award from the Family Research Council for opposing same-sex marriage.

Pope Francis spoke about the importance of religious freedom during his public speeches, and later told an American television reporter that while he could not speak to specific cases, “conscientious objection is a right that is part of every human right.”

He did not mention Davis by name.

Staver said Davis has become a symbol of the “worldwide conflict between Christian faith and recent cultural challenges regarding marriage” and that the pope’s meeting with her served to affirm the legitimacy of religious objection to same-sex marriage.

Staver is the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which has represented Davis free of charge during her legal struggles.

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Details for this story were provided by the Ashland, Ky., Daily Independent.