*UPDATED/WATCH: NEW, BERNIE SANDERS ARRIVES, SPEAKS TO CROWDS AT VATICAN, April 15
*NEW, 6 min. Video of Bernie greeting crowds chanting "Bernie!, Bernie!" outside the Vatican and him speaking to them. Text of his speech from the 'Occupy Democrats' article. EXCELLENT, Bernie is so happy and so are supporters!
Bernie Arrives to Cheering Crowds Outside the Vatican and Speaks On CLIMATE CHANGE, The Need to Transfer to Alternative Energy Sources Which Pope Francis Supports, and The Importance of a *MORAL ECONOMY Espoused by Pope Francis.
*'Occupy Democrats' Report: This clip shows Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders arriving at the Vatican, where he is attending a conference at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He is pleasantly surprised to be greeted like a returning hero – crowds of Italians turned out to happily chant “Bernie! Bernie!” Senator Sanders obliges them with a moving speech about the pressing need for economic justice in the global economy.
“Very very wealthy people are becoming wealthier while most people are becoming poorer. In fact, the top 1% of people on this planet own more wealth than the 99% of the rest. That, to me, is unacceptable, it is unsustainable, it is immoral, and together we’ve got to change that. I have been enormously impressed by Pope Francis for speaking out on his visionary views about creating a moral economy, an economy that works for all people – not just the people on top!”
He goes on to discuss the dominance of the fossil fuel industry and the growing threat of climate change, another issue which he and the Holy Father are both very passionate about. He highlights how all the issues are interconnected and all trails lead back to the gross power and influence of the global oligarchy which controls the vast majority of the world’s wealth. It’s a very moving scene which emphasizes Sanders’ leadership and his ability to bring people together – and shows that his ideas are popular not just among Americans, but strikingly resonate among people from all over the world.
http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/04/15/watch-crowd-goes-nuts-bernie-arrives-vatican-blasts-immoral-greed-destroying-planet/
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The Pope Sends Greetings, Blessings and a Personal Handwritten Note to Visiting Senator Bernie Sanders.
What a fine statesman Sen. Bernie Sanders is for the United States.
= new reply since forum marked as read
The pontiff condemns the impoverishment of developing countries by the world economic order and apologised for the church’s treatment of native Americans.
Pope Francis has urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order, denouncing a “new colonialism” by agencies that impose austerity programs and calling for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labor, lodging and land.
In one of the longest, most passionate and sweeping speeches of his pontificate, the Argentine-born pope used his visit to Bolivia to ask forgiveness for the sins committed by the Roman Catholic church in its treatment of native Americans during what he called the “so-called conquest of America”.
~ Pope Francis Greets Indigenous Ecuadorian People ~
The pontiff also demanded an immediate end to what he called the “genocide” of Christians taking place in the Middle East and beyond, describing it as a third world war.
“Today we are dismayed to see how in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world many of our brothers and sisters are persecuted, tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus,” Pope Francis said.
“In this third world war, waged piecemeal, which we are now experiencing, a form of genocide is taking place, and it must end.”
*Quoting a fourth century bishop, he called the unfettered pursuit of money “the dung of the devil”, and said poor countries should not be reduced to being providers of raw material and cheap labour for developed countries.
Repeating some of the themes of his landmark encyclical Laudato Si on the environment last month, Francis said time was running out to save the planet from perhaps irreversible harm to the ecosystem.
...“Let us not be afraid to say it: we want change, real change, structural change,” the pope said, decrying a system that “has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature”.
“This system is by now intolerable: farm workers find it intolerable, labourers find it intolerable, communities find it intolerable, peoples find it intolerable. The earth itself – our sister, Mother Earth, as Saint Francis would say – also finds it intolerable,” he said in an hour-long speech that was interrupted by applause and cheering dozens of times.
Since his election in 2013, the first pope from Latin America has often spoken out in defence of the poor and against unbridled capitalism but the speech in Santa Cruz was the most comprehensive to date on the issues he has championed.
~ Pope Francis Hugged by Bolivian President Evo Morales Upon Arrival For His July, 2015 South American Tour ~
Francis’ previous attacks on capitalism have prompted stiff criticism from politicians and commentators in the United States, where he is due to visit in September.
The pontiff appeared to take a swipe at international monetary organisations such as the IMF and the development aid policies by some developed countries.
“No actual or established power has the right to deprive peoples of the full exercise of their sovereignty. Whenever they do so, we see the rise of new forms of colonialism which seriously prejudice the possibility of peace and justice,” he said.
“The new colonialism takes on different faces. At times it appears as the anonymous influence of mammon: corporations, loan agencies, certain ‘free trade’ treaties, and the imposition of measures of ‘austerity’ which always tighten the belt of workers and the poor,” he said.
Last week, Francis called on European authorities to keep human dignity at the centre of debate for a solution to the economic crisis in Greece.
He defended labor unions and praised poor people who had formed cooperatives to create jobs where previously “there were only crumbs of an idolatrous economy”.
In one of the sections on colonialism, he said: “I say this to you with regret: many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of God.”
He added: “I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offences of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America.
“There was sin and an abundant amount of it.” con't...
READ MORE: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/10/poor-must-change-new-colonialism-of-economic-order-says-pope-francis
~ Pope Francis Visits CUBA ~
It is so nice to see positive, factual coverage of what is happening over there.
And I love the Pope's remark about Bernie!!
"I see in Senator Bernard Sanders a man of great integrity and moral conviction, who understands these principles and genuinely wants what's best for all people." --Pope Francis
WOW!!
Bernie Shakes Hands with Bolivian President Evo Morales at the Vatican Event, April 15.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-04-15/sanders-steps-away-from-new-york-campaign-for-vatican-conference
Raphael's magnificent Renaissance fresco in the Vatican, "The School of Athens" painted 1509-1511, which depicts a grouping of leading mathematicians, philosophers and scientists from Classical Antiquity including Aristotle and Plato.
