You know a presidential candidate is special when he receives an invitation from none other than the Vatican.
According to the New York Times, Bernie Sanders will take a hiatus from campaigning in New York in order to attend a conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on April 15. However, it is not confirmed whether or not the millennial favorite will meet with Pope Francis:
“I am a big, big fan of the pope,” Sanders gushed in an interview. “Obviously there are areas where we disagree on, on women’s rights or gay rights, but he has played an unbelievable role — an unbelievable role — of injecting a moral consequence into the economy.”
The senator’s attendance to the conference coincides with the 25th anniversary of the “Centesimus Annus,” which was a letter written by Pope John Paul II that discussed economic and social issues similar to those Sanders has emphasized during his White House bid.
Sanders’ visit will be a monumental moment in history. The presidential candidate is Jewish and “a fairly progressive non-Catholic,” which makes the Vatican’s approval of him even more significant.
While Sanders’ and the pope differ on their beliefs regarding women’s rights and gay rights, the Democratic candidate appreciates the beloved priest’s views “about income inequality and the need for people to help one another.”
“He has played an unbelievable role, an unbelievable role of injecting a moral consequence into the economy,” said the Vermont senator. “He is talking about the idolatry of money, the worship of money, the greed that’s out there, how our whole culture is based on: ‘I need more and more and more.”
However, Sanders and the pope’s views are becoming more and more alike. Today, the pope requested that priests around the world be more tolerant of gays and lesbians, divorced Catholics and other people living in what the church considers atypical situations:
“A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws … as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives,” the impassioned priest wrote. “By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and growth.”
Although this is simply an invitation, you don’t see Clinton or Trump being affably welcomed to such a religiously historical place. The Vatican sees what all of Sanders’ supporters see: a compassionate, fearless leader prepared to fix the mess past politicians have made, and he is more than capable of doing so.
Featured image via Flickr by Nick Solari under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.
