US election: Bernie Sanders invited to Vatican by Pope

[Lodestar]

Source: BBC

Mr Sanders, who is Jewish, accepted an invitation to Rome for a conference at the end of next week.

The Vatican visit is four days before the primary contest in New York, a competitive battle between him and front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Mr Sanders said he was not sure whether he would meet the Pope but he was a big fan of the pontiff.
The Vermont senator said they share the same views on inequality.

"He's trying to inject this sense of morality into how we do economics... and we need that absolutely desperately."

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-35999269

---

Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the Academy, speaking on the phone from New York, said he extended the invitation to Sanders

“We are interested in having him because we have two presidents coming from Latin America, I thought it would be good to have an authoritative voice from North America,” Sanchez Sorondo said. Asked when the invitation was extended, he said, “Quite some time ago.”

Actual text of the the Vatican Press Release - (thanks Coffee Cat)

We're delighted to host this conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Centesimus Annus, bringing together world leaders, including US Senator Sanders, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Academicians of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences such as its President Margaret Archer, and leading scholars such as Professor Daniel Finn, Professor Jeffrey Sachs etc., to examine and discuss changes in politics, economics, and culture in the world these last 25 years in the light of Pope Francis' new encyclical Laudato si'. Our intention is socio-political in the highest sense of the term, because according to art. 1 of our Statutes, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences was established by the Holy Father John Paul II on 1 January 1994 with the aim of promoting the study and progress of the social sciences, primarily economics, sociology, law and political science.
Title I - Constitution and Aims of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
Art. 1
The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences was established by the Holy Father John Paul II on 1 January 1994 (AAS 86 , 213), with the aim of promoting the study and progress of the social sciences, primarily economics, sociology, law and political science. The Academy, through an appropriate dialogue, thus offers the Church the elements which she can use in the development of her social doctrine, and reflects on the application of that doctrine in contemporary society. The Academy, which is autonomous, maintains a close relationship with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
✠ Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo

[revbones]

1. Yay for truth! nt

[mak3cats]

2. Awful quiet in here... (eom)

[FailureToCommunicate]

4. The bar room brawl started a few hours ago...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=352110

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1407275

[Land of Enchantment]

28. Well, let's just encourage the silence with photos

like these....













And hillary gets the albatross....

[SCantiGOP]

32. I don't get it

Is Bernie the next Pope or the second coming?

[Judi Lynn]

34. Great images. n/t

[Paper Roses]

5. Bravo for Bernie. We all need to see and hear and accept the views of others.

I'm sure a visit with the Pope will give Bernie insight. I am not Catholic, in fact, I do not support any religion but I respect the views of those who do. It is up to all of us to broaden our vistas. We need to hear, see and accept the views of others.
Thank you Senator Sanders.

[beastie boy]

14. Too bad the Pope doesn't want to see him...

No insight for Bernie.

[Sunlei]

20. The Pope will drop by and visit with the group.

[Lodestar]

6. An honor for Bernie who has devoted his life to the issues covered by

this conference. Well done!

This is who Bernie Sanders IS:

Who are YOU?

...

[catchnrelease]

7. Updated info from papal official

Last edited Fri Apr 8, 2016, 02:22 PM - Edit history (1)

http://rawstory.com/2016/04/papal-official-denies-report-bernie-sanders-invited-himself-to-vatican/

[Lodestar]

12. Thanks for this! It deserved it's own headline so I posted it that way.

[catchnrelease]

15. No problem

I'm pretty inept with posting links, photos, etc so usually don't do it at all, but I thought this was an important update. Glad you can carry the ball, thanks. I did change the subject line a little to make it more clear.

[Lodestar]

16. You did great. Caught an important lead story! Awesome! n/t

[NorthCarolina]

8. This post must be hidden to Hillary supporters I guess.

They're all over in the ones that say Bernie invited himself. Wonder why.

[beastie boy]

10. WRONG!!!

But the office of the pope moved quickly to distance the pontiff from the visit. Father Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s spokesman, said Sanders had been invited “not by the pope but by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.” Lombardi told the Italian news agency Ansa: “For the moment there is no expectation that there will also be a meeting with the pope.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-04-08/sanders-accused-of-discourtesy-in-seeking-vatican-invitation

Just because Bernie tell you something, doesn't mean it's true.

[KPN]

11. So what about "Vatican Press Release" is wrong as you say.

This morning's news said Bernie invited by Vaticsn.

[beastie boy]

13. Bernie was invited by the Vatican Academy for Social Sciences

To be more precise, he was invited by the Chancellor of the Academy, against the sentiments of the Academy's President, and in apparent violation of protocol.

The Pope wants nothing to do with him, as my previous link indicated.

[KPN]

23. Vatican! Sort of like

Oh I don't know, US government: USDA, USDOI, USDOD, etc. They are all the US government.

Stop parsing every little word to create BS arguments in order to smear people ... not unlike Hillary herself and all her surrogates.

The Clinton camp just can't stand being challenged by Bernie and his supporters. So they keeping making up BS arguments and accusations like the one you posted.

Why do they feel the need to do that? Hmmmm.

By the way, look up the actual invitation (Google it -- it's already out there) and then take a look at the Reuters article today wherein the Chancellor essentially says that the President of the Vatican Academy lied.

[beastie boy]

25. A more accurate analogy would be to compare the Academy to the National Institutes of Health

Do you seriously think that Obama would care about what foreign dignitaries they invite to one of their conferences or even give a shit about their existence?

But I am obviously Hillary's paid shill out to smear everything Bernie with BS. And so are the facts.

You got me.

[KPN]

29. More accurate analogy? Okay, add NIH to my list. That works for me.

Who said anything about the Pope "giving a shit" as you so eloquently posted? To use a phrase Hillary is prone to: what practical difference does that make? .... I'm just giddy Bernie's been invited by THE VATICAN and the whole world knows it.

You are obviously really stewed over this one.

[stupidicus]

18. well, the Hillarian tenacity is becoming legendary this time around

after failing to polish the "he invited himself!!!!" turd and winding up wearing it, they must belittle the invite he got as much as possible in an effort to obscure the gross gullibility the aforementioned represents.

And of course, they'll likely hide behind the old "I'm only interested in the truth" bs (like they really care about the truth given recent history) after that self-inflicted exercise in humiliation, because egos are at stake.

[noiretextatique]

31. Gay rights and abortion

Is the latest spin.

[magical thyme]

17. just because an editor writes a misleading headline

doesn't mean it's Bernie's fault.

The text of the article makes clear that the invite came from the Vatican, not the Pope himself.

[beastie boy]

19. What if Bernie writes a misleading headline?

Sanders earlier on Friday said, "this is an invitation from the Vatican, from a pope that I have enormous respect for in term of the level of consciousness that he's raising on the need to have morality in our economy"

http://wingatewire.com/2016/04/08/papal-official-denies-report-bernie-sanders-invited-himself/

[magical thyme]

21. he said straight out "this is an invitation from the Vatican."

and he wasn't writing a headline, he was speaking. It's not uncommon, especially when speaking off the cuff, to not use perfectly clear sentence structure.

The invite actually came from a very close aide to the Pope. Obviously, the Pope himself wouldn't be issuing invitations.

But keep trying. A week from now, nobody will remember the attempted smears. But everybody will remember that Bernie was invited to a conference at the Vatican.

[beastie boy]

22. That was his second try

But I guess he deserves credit for getting it right eventually.

The invitation came from the Academy, and the Pope had nothing to do with it. Furthermore, the Pope's press release clearly states that he is not planning to have any contact with Bernie.

Further confusion about the trip bubbled up on Friday afternoon when the Vatican press office made clear that it had not issued the invitation, but that it had come from the academy. It said that there was no indication that Mr. Sanders would meet with Francis.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/08/bernie-sanders-accepts-pope-franciss-invitation-to-travel-to-the-vatican/

And a month from now nobody will remember that Bernie was invited to a conference at the Vatican. I doubt that a year from now anyone will remember Bernie was a Democrat for a few months.

[snagglepuss]

26. WTF is wingawire. Bernie on MSNBC never mentioned the Pope. His release to the BBC said nothing

about the Pope extending the invite.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. I think Bernie should release the long-form of the invitation

so DU can minutely parse the source, the words, the limitations.

[dubyadiprecession]

27. I can't wait to see the photo of the pope and BS...

Maybe the pope will remind BS of the ninth commandment.

[MelungeonWoman]

30. I can't wait to see his speech days before the NY primary.

Too bad they turned down Hillary.

[tabasco]

33. The whirling dervish reaction from Clinton supporters is unbelieveable

It's difficult to fathom that these are fellow Dmocrats.

[hughee99]

35. A good thread title might have been "Clinton supporters livid that other Democrats are respected

internationally". Wouldn't it be just awful if we had a whole bunch of well respected Dems to push the party agenda.