Attorney: Kim Davis had private meeting with Pope Francis

Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who went to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, met with Pope Francis last week during his visit to the U.S., Davis' attorney Mat Staver told CBS News.

According to Staver, the two met briefly last Thursday, September 24, at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Staver said Pope Francis spoke to Davis in English and asked her to pray for him. He said Davis, in return, asked the pope to pray for her. The pope told her to stay strong, according to her lawyer.

Staver said the pope also gave Kim and her husband rosaries he had blessed.

Photos of the meeting are in the possession of the Vatican, according to Staver. CBS News is awaiting confirmation of the meeting from Vatican officials.

While on the flight home from his visit to the U.S., Francis was asked about Davis' case.

Davis, a court clerk in Rowan County, was jailed for several days after she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples despite the Supreme Court's ruling making same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Davis said such marriages violate her Apostolic Christian faith.

Francis said he didn't know the case in detail, but he upheld conscientious objection as a human right.

"It is a right. And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right," Francis said.