Her refusal to follow court orders and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples not only earned Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis six nights in jail, but also a private audience with Pope Francis.

During his visit to the United States last week, the leader of the world's more than 1.2 billion Catholics secretly met with Davis at Washington's Apostolic Nunciature, the embassy of the Holy See, the Vatican confirmed.

The liberal website Think Progress had originally cast doubt on whether the encounter had actually taken place. But the Vatican on Wednesday confirmed that the meeting happened, though Rev. Manuel Dorantes, a spokesman, told the newspaper that he had no additional comments. The meeting was first been revealed by the Liberty Counsel, a conservative advocacy group representing Davis.

According to a statement published by the organization, Francis thanked the clerk for her "courage" and asked her to pray for him. The two embraced, and Francis gave Davis and her husband Joe two blessed rosaries, the Liberty Counsel added.

"I was humbled to meet Pope Francis," the clerk said, according to the statement. "I never thought I would meet the Pope. Who am I to have this rare opportunity? ... Pope Francis was kind, genuinely caring, and very personable. He even asked me to pray for him. Pope Francis thanked me for my courage and told me to 'stay strong.'"

On his flight back to Europe, Francis had already weighed in on the controversy surrounding Davis on Monday when he insinuated that her defiances amounted to a "human right," Reuters recalled.

"Conscientious objection must enter into every judicial structure because it is a right," the Pope said as he was returning from his 10-day trip to Cuba and U.S. "And if someone does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right."

Opponents of same-sex marriage have seized on Davis' case after the Rowan county clerk defied several court rulings ordering her to implement the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision, with which the Supreme Court had legalized same-sex unions across the United States earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning repeatedly held that the clerk's religious objections did not "excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform," according to the Christian Science Monitor.