"You're meeting with the Pope?" "Yup".

[Old Crow]

358. Utter nonsense.

From the very get-go, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the Vatican Bishop organizing the conference, wanted to include politicians who have a strong commitment to social justice. To that end, he has invited several, including Sanders (who all happen to be Social Democrats, by the way). None of them are presenting papers. But clearly Sorondo knows that politicians are not going to attend a conference in silence--nor does he want them to. When interviewed recently by the National Catholic Reporter, Sorondo indicated that all the politicians would be given an opportunity to speak, provided they kept their remarks within the realm of the conference's subject, the Centesimus annus.

Calling any of this a "public affairs nightmare" is absurd. It's a great turn of events for Senator Sanders. I'm delighted that he was invited to the conference and making time to attend it, despite a packed political schedule. The only "public affairs nightmare" that comes to mind, now that you use the term, is the sight of a red-faced Bill Clinton angrily pointing his finger at and shouting at Black Lives Matter protesters here in Philadelphia. But that's another story, of course.