Yes, Sanders WAS invited to the Vatican. Latest from Bloomberg:

[mainer]

Margaret Archer is directly contradicted by the chancellor of the Academy:

Sanders “made the first move two or three days ago,” Archer said. She did not know whom he or his representatives contacted about what she called “this little workshop.” Archer added: “His use of it is clearly a pretext. There are just 20 academics and there will be nothing of policy relevance.”
However Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the Academy, speaking on the phone from New York, said he extended the invitation to Sanders, though he declined to say who initiated the contacts.
“We are interested in having him because we have two presidents coming from Latin America, I thought it would be good to have an authoritative voice from North America,” Sanchez Sorondo said. Asked when he when the invitation was extended, he said, “Quite some time ago.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-04-08/sanders-accused-of-discourtesy-in-seeking-vatican-invitation

[silvershadow]

1. Another Clinton camp hit job debunked. Next... nt

[geek tragedy]

2. he may miss the primaries after this taste of Vatican politics nt

[revbones]

3. ^^ BOOM ^^

Yes!

Thank you for posting this!

[Nanjeanne]

4. Ooopsie! And seriously Archer -- I doubt anyone used the phrase "little workshop".

[Viva_La_Revolution]

13. panel discussing social justice and poverty and environment

WWJD? I don't think he would call it 'a little workshop'

[boobooday]

17. I guess her official title is

Archbishop of Snark

[bigtree]

5. I'm missing where he contradicted her that Sanders initiated the contacts

"he declined to say who initiated the contacts"

[snagglepuss]

19. That's of no significance. Hillary initiated a contact, she invited the Pope

to a Foundation shindig but the Pope declined.

[NWCorona]

23. +1!

They are trying to spin what little is left of this fake scandal.

They were actually trying to coin a term for it. #Vaticangate lol!

[Iliyah]

6. "though he declined to say who initiated the contacts"

Seriously, what's up with telling the facts. Methinks Ms. Archer is correct.

[Armstead]

16. More Clintonian parsing

Does it really matter whether he requested the invitation or not?

If I receive an award, is the award any less valid if I applied to participate in the contest?

[mainer]

7. My prediction: Margaret Archer will be gone in a few months

After this blows over, her public hissy fit will cause her to be forced out of her position at the Vatican.

[snagglepuss]

20. She blew it big-time. nt

[TheSarcastinator]

8. The Hillarians crap the bed once again

They really need proper toilet training.

[QC]

9. Sounds like internal scuffling, like the Kim Davis deal,

when the legate invited her and her husband to the embassy to meet the pope, who later disavowed any interests in the four-time-married defender of marriage and got rid of the legate.

When it comes to internal intrigue, the Vatican beats the Byzantine court.

[potone]

10. OK, now if I understand this correctly...

Ms. Archer, the president of the Academy, is angry because Sanders did not contact her, but the chancellor of the Academy said that he extended the invitation. It sounds to me like Ms. Archer is really angry at Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo because he didn't ask her first. It sounds to me like Sanders unwittingly got stuck in the middle of a power struggle between the president and the chancellor.

It also seems to me to be "monumentally discourteous" to chastise in public someone who has just been invited to the institution that she heads. Surely this violation of protocol, if that is what it was, should be addressed privately. Why would anyone want to publicly embarrass a guest shortly before he arrives? Methinks she has some other agenda.

[mainer]

12. Totally agree. She's the monumentally discourteous one.

Yecch, I'd hate to work for her.

[snagglepuss]

22. Ii think you have it spot on. Perhaps she got an earful from Hillary and/or her

Catholic surrogates and she had to say something to mollify them.

[NWCorona]

24. Thanks for that bit of insight

Makes perfect sense!

[mainer]

11. Daily Kos has more.

The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences also marked the upcoming trip in a statement, writing, “We’re delighted to host this conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Centesimus Annus, bringing together world leaders, including U.S. Senator Sanders.”

Mons. Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the academy, also discussed Sanders’s scheduled visit in a phone call.

“It does not signify any support of the campaign,” Sorondo explained. “We want to establish a dialogue between North America and South America so we thought to invite a (U.S.) politician. The President of Bolivia will also be there. Perhaps the others (candidates) would have been interested but they did not request to come.”

Asked if Sanders had requested an invitation, he said, “He has expressed an interest many times in the Pope’s encyclical and it’s clear that he has an interest in studying it. It might have that effect, (of looking like they approve of campaign) but we are not looking to support the campaign.”

(source: fox6now.com/...)


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/4/8/1512618/-Another-statement-from-the-Pontifical-Academy-of-Social-Sciences-re-Sanders-conference-attendance

[boobooday]

14. Mission Accomplished

Send out the snarkiest person in the Vatican to throw shade on Bernie.

I'm sure the media and Hillary's supporters will rush out to correct the record.

[mainer]

15. Invitation from Vatican is dated March 30

Margaret Archer claims Sanders made the first move for an invitation "three or four days ago." Which would make it AFTER the invitation was already extended.

Maybe we can get a timeline here about how things really happened.

[revbones]

21. The the chancellor said it was “Quite some time ago.”

I think Archer's credibility in this matter is shot given her little personal attacks in her quotes.

[pdsimdars]

18. Wouldn't you hate to be someone who was on the side that needed to trash anything good?

What does that do to your soul?