Social media was abuzz last week over news that Sen. Bernie Sanders had been invited to the Vatican by Pope Francis.
After rumors began to circulate that the above statement was incorrect, debate ensued, plagued with broad generalizations and sweeping characteristics about candidates and their respective parties, over how and why Sanders had actually been invited to the Vatican.
It turns out that the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, invited Sanders to address the Academy during their conference on social, economic, and environmental issues.
The conference celebrates the 25th anniversary of an encyclical by Pope John Paul II about the pitfalls of the market economy and the globalization of the aforementioned issues.
No, the Pope himself did not wake up one morning and decide to invite Sanders to a meeting as some sort of subliminal endorsement of his candidacy.
However, a bishop, who is quite close to the pope, did make a specific decision about which candidate for the United States presidency to invite to speak on these issues.
And he chose Bernie Sanders.
This should be not overlooked or marginalized.