Bernie Sanders meets with Pope Francis Saturday morning at his residence in the Domus Santa Marta
Immediately following the contentious Democratic Debate between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, Sanders flew off to the Vatican to deliver a speech at a conference on economic inequality and climate change. It was not clear whether Bernie Sanders would be given a face-to-face meeting with the Pope.
It is evident now. Bernie had a meeting with the Pope in his residence. The Guardian reports the following.
The Democratic US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders brought his political revolution to the Vatican on Saturday, where he was granted a five-minute audience with Pope Francis.
Sanders, the Vermont senator challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, told reporters he had met the pontiff on Saturday morning and discussed the need to inject morality and justice into the world economy, a view Sanders says he and the pope both share.
“I told him that I was incredibly appreciative of the incredible role that he is playing in this planet in discussing issues about the need for an economy based on morality, not greed,” Sanders said.
The Pope and Bernie Sanders are made from the same moral cloth. Sanders mentions the Pope’s encyclical which the Pope pretty much covered in part in the speech he gave to Congress. They both want to inject morality into the economic systems of the world whose middle classes and poor are currently being decimated by an unfettered brand of capitalism.
Bernie Sanders and his wife spent the night in the Domus Santa Marta hotel on the same floor with the Pope’s residence. Saturday morning they the Pope and Sanders met for about 5 minutes. There were no photographs taken of the meeting. One wonders if the reason for this is to avoid any implications that the meeting was political in nature.