Bernie not the only socialist visiting the Vatican this week
Newsweek
Later this week, academics, theologians and world leaders will assemble in Rome to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's Centesimus Annus, an encyclical celebrating the collapse of Communism in Europe. In it, the Polish-born pontiff lauded free markets and criticized socialism.
Among the guests: Bernie Sanders, the son of Jewish parents who fled Nazi persecution in Poland.
The list may be short on Brooklyn natives, but Sanders won't be alone among the socialists, a reflection of the left leaning views of Pope Francis, who has put his stamp on the church’s social policies just as he did with its family policies in last week’s mammoth encyclical.
In attendance will be two socialist heads of state from Latin America, a handful of left-leaning economists and Sanders, who describes himself as a "democratic socialist."
Sanders, the only U.S. politician invited to speak, will be joined by presidents Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Evo Morales of Bolivia. Correa, 53, first gained international attention as Ecuador's minister of finance in 2005. He won the presidency in 2006 with a platform of disempowering entrenched elites. The country's GDP has grown every year since, and Correa remains popular for his refusal to repay Ecuador's debts—which he called "immoral"—instead allowing the country to default. Ecuador repaid its first foreign loan in 2015
cont'd
http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-socialist-pope-francis-vatican-conference-446501
= new reply since forum marked as read
on video, how inspiring
PR at best.
Read it right here in DU. Several times.
I can ck for a link if no one's already read of the wheelin & dealin that got bernie the invite.
Heard there was quite the fued over how the "invite" came about.
Kinda diminishes the legitimacy from the get go.
But in the end this will help the PR of his flailing campaign enormously, so good luck bern! Have at it!
