When the Pope wants to meet you, you say yes.
Especially when you’re an actual progressive, and the Pope in question is the most socially progressive pontiff in the entire history of the Catholic Church, known for his advocacy on behalf of the poor, against social inequality, against war, and for an immediate end to global warming.
Pope Francis met with Bernie Sanders this morning, as the two crossed paths in the papal residence just before Francis left to meet with refugees on the island of Lesvos to raise European consciousness on their plight.
As the WaPo initially reported:
The meeting took place at the papal residence early Saturday, according Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs.
A Vatican source said the meeting was not a chance encounter and had been planned.
[SEE UPDATE below*: Facing blowback for the appearance of any political maneuver, the Pope, ever the consummate diplomat, while confirming the meeting, downplayed any significance or prior planning, portraying the encounter as polite and a product of circumstance. In respect, the prior reporting has been softened since the original story broke to reflect Francis’s careful phrasing]
Sanders had been discreet about his plans after speaking at the conference the Vatican had invited him to address as a superstar headliner. And now, according to multiple sources including the AP, the reasons for that discretion have become clear. When Pope Francis is pulling you into into his orbit for the honor of a personal meeting, you have no choice but to accept:
Sanders and wife, Jane, stayed overnight at the pope's residence, the Domus Santa Marta hotel in the Vatican gardens, on the same floor as the pope.
Wow. This honor is YUGE!
So how did the meeting this morning go?
Sanders said the meeting took place Saturday morning before the pope left for his one-day visit to Greece. He said he was honored by the meeting, and that he told the pope he appreciated the message that he is sending the world about the need to inject morality and justice into the world economy. Sanders said it's a message he has been sending as well.
"We had an opportunity to meet with him this morning," Sanders said. "It was a real honor for me, for my wife and I to spend some time with him. I think he is one of the extraordinary figures not only in the world today but in modern world history.”
Asked what they discussed, Sanders said they mostly spoke briefly about climate change and foreign policy matters. He said he spent a good part of the meeting expressing his admiration for the Pope, especially his efforts to push for a more fair and just economic system:
"His message is resonating with every religion on earth with people who have no religion and it is a message that says we have got to inject morality and justice into the global economy," Sanders said.
Sanders said the meeting should not be viewed as the pope injecting himself into the campaign. "The issues that I talked about yesterday at the conference as you well know are issues that I have been talking about not just throughout this campaign but throughout my political life. And I am just very much appreciated the fact that the pope in many ways has been raising these issues in a global way in the sense that I have been trying to raise them in the United States."
An official Vatican twitter account subsequently sent out papal confirmation of the meeting:
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And Sanders and his wife Jane were caught on camera leaving the Pope’s residence just after his historic meeting. It is the first time a Pope has met with a candidate for President of the US:
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Those who spent many days mocking Sanders for being invited to speak by the Vatican, and assuring us up and down that the Pope would never meet him, should have reflected more deeply on the mission that drives each of these two people, and how deeply seriously each takes their mission.
They also displayed a rather shocking lack of familiarity with the sly, secretive, subtle course that diplomacy runs, especially within the refined atmosphere of the Vatican. In the end, according to initial reports from the AP (which it later hedged on!), it will bend to the will of the boss, especially one as venerated and committed to social justice as this Pope:
However, Francis has been known to flout Vatican protocol, and the meeting with Sanders is evidence that his personal desires often trump Vatican diplomacy.
A great honor for Senator Sanders, and a great day for the fight for social justice all over the world. Let us continue it in the spirit of communal solidarity displayed by Sanders and Pope Francis today.
Saturday, Apr 16, 2016 · 4:41:06 PM +00:00 · InteGritty
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Pope Francis, facing some blowback from today’s events, has confirmed meeting Sanders and agreed with the Senator that the encounter had no political meaning:
“This morning as I was leaving, Senator Sanders was there,” Francis said. “He knew I was coming out at that time, and he had the kindness to greet me.”
“When I came down, he introduced himself, I greeted him with a handshake, and nothing more,” the pope added. “It’s common courtesy, this is called common courtesy.
“If someone thinks that greeting someone is getting involved in politics,” he said, “I recommend that they find a psychiatrist.”
*Respecting the Pope’s usual concern with not involving himself with politics in Italy or abroad, later reporting on the encounter has delicately shifted to present it as somewhat serendipitous.
Regular Vatican observers would counter that, nowhere more certainly than within Vatican walls, papal encounters do not occur randomly, and do not occur without papal approval and without a mutual desire to meet.
Saturday, Apr 16, 2016 · 8:55:27 PM +00:00
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InteGritty
Sources are now indicating, as I suggested the evidence hinted, Sanders was indeed told through Vatican channels where and when to be to meet the Pope this morning.
All the subsequent politicking and diplomatic words are ex post facto attempts to delicately reshape the simple event.