Bernie Sanders is Going to Vatican City (and Here´s Why)

BBC News released the newest example of media ignorance

entitled ´US Elections: Bernie Sanders Invited to Vatican by Pope.´ Before the public´s heads start spinning with political dramatics the facts have to be examined. Chancellor Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo invited Bernie Sanders to the Vatican City State for the Centesimus Annus 25 Years later. 

The Centesimus Annus is a symposium held by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Pope John Paul II established the Potifical Academy of Social Sciences in 1994 ¨so that the Holy Father and all Vatican offices would have access to the most current social scientific research relevant to the Church’s teaching.¨ Three years prior Saint John Paul II had begun the church´s efforts to improve the content of church teaching through interactions with social scientists. The 25 Years Later Centesimus Annus symposium participants will discuss the question of how the past 25 years have changed the world´s ¨situation-economically, politically, and culturally.¨ Secondly the symposium ¨will investigate how Catholic social teaching has engaged the world in order to ask how best the Church can do so in the coming years and decades.¨

The two day event will go as follows: One participant will present their authored paper on the subject being discussed.  They are followed by a respondent. All participants then discuss the information presented. Lunch, dinner, and coffee break will be provided for both days of the symposium. The full itinerary detailing the participants and papers to be discussed is in the official conference booklet on the PASS site.

Bernie Sanders is not listed to present an authored paper but The Academy´s statement of ¨generous listening to the multiplicity of “grass-roots” groups and movements around the globe¨ points to Bernie Sanders as a welcome part of the discussion. His invitation by Chancellor Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo suggests an appreciation of common ground in the issue of climate change, a topic which will be part of the Academy´s agenda. The invitation to be part of the symposium is a landmark in Sander´s grassroot campaign movement. His views have now expanded beyonded the race for Democratic nominee to an international discussion. 

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The offical press release from the Bernie Sanders campain:
 https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-visit-vatican-city

For more information on the Centeminus Annus symposium (and the quotes) visit: http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali/en/events/2014-18/centesimus_annus.html

Author

L.Krause
Freelance writer with a sense of humor and passion for politics