When did the Catholic Church become a good thing?

[MBS]

15. IMO, this is OT for this group

It also misses the problem of Vaticangate.

I think that Bernie really does like Pope Francis. (Heck, I love Pope Francis, too. And Pope Francis is genuinely, even courageously, trying to correct all the problems you've outlined).
That's not the problem.

The problem is that Bernie misrepresented, and exaggerated, the importance of the conference (an academic conference whose focus is a theological discussion of Pope John Paul II' s encyclical on social issues, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary) , the origin of his invitation (NOT the Pope), his role in the conference (minor), and Bernie's relationship (in short, none) to the Pope himself. In its political clumsiness and inappropriate grandstanding, it highlighted all the reasons why Bernie is not ready for primetime. At best, these were rookie, unclassy moves on the part of Bernie and his campaign handlers - a transparent, juvenile attempt to boost Bernie's status as well as his appeal to New York catholics.

As a bonus, the story has also provided a window into internal, academic-type, inside-baseball disagreements among the conference organizers The president of the Vatican Academy of Social Science (a laywomen, a professor from Great Britain) is clearly pissed at the CEO (a priest), and, probably, also with Sachs (a keynote speaker, a Bernie advisor and an admitted encourager of Bernie's invitation), and, because of the publicity, Bernie himself, because (a) -this is a guess on my part, but I could easily see that this would bug her- he has no qualifications, really, to discuss the issues at hand . He's not an academic, and he's certainly no expert on Catholic social theology, to say the least (b) his presence introduces specific partisan politics into a conference which is supposed to transcend such issues .* (c)- to make (b) even worse - Bernie overstated his role, and used the invitation for campaign PR.
I share her concerns and annoyance, in toto.
Would love to be able to eavesdrop on the "discussions" between the Academy president and CEO. . . and also her reaction to Bernie's arrival, especially if he arrives with a PR Contingent

My hope is that the academy president will forcefully block any and all attempts by Bernie to arrange a meeting with the Pope. And that the Pope and his staff will themselves have the savvy and good sense to keep Bernie far, far away from him.

* People have noted that there are two Latin American presidents among the speakers. But (a) they are sitting presidents, NOT candidates for president.(not to mention a candidate who's chosen to publicize his participation in the most tacky possible way). That's a BIG difference. Also (b) they are almost surely Catholic themselves. Also,(c) the two presidents are actual central participants in the conference. Bernie is listed among the "other" participants - basically an observer and/or discussant (even though he's reportedly trying to arrange to give a speech, despite his clearly peripheral "status&quot .