An openly gay former student of Pope Francis who visited the pope during his recent trip to Washington has said he was surprised Francis also met the Kentucky county clerk who gained attention for refusing to issue same-sex couples marriage licenses.
Lombardi said Yayo Grassi, a former student of Pope Francis, had asked to present his mother and "several friends" to the pope in Washington.
Possibly a student of Pope St. Gregory I the Great in Rome, he was a deacon of the Roman Church when elected pope.
Human rights groups and forensic experts dispute the government's account of what happened to the students; the pope has not yet made a public comment on this case.
Joseph Fessio, an American priest and former student of the pope's, who is taking part in the meeting, "because intelligent design has been represented either as a religion, which it is not, or as a science, which I think is indefensible".
But some students of the pope say his doubts go deeper into the science of evolutionary theory.
What do students know about Pope John Paul II, including some of the challenges and controversies that he faced in his papacy?
In October, Sean Carroll and a group of high school students wrote to Pope Francis to let him know about Kino's work and invite him to the border.
Families of missing Mexican students ask: Will Pope Francis speak of 'los 43'los
A crowd of students burnt the Pope in effigy and took down the heads of executed Covenanters that were hanging above the city gates.
