A clueless Vatican chancellor didn't mean to step into US politics and [View all]

[pnwmom]

still doesn't understand why inviting Bernie to this small, dry academic gathering would be a problem.

OTOH, the British President of the Academy understands the politics much better and this is why she feels used.

http://ncronline.org/news/politics/bernie-sanders-set-attend-vatican-conference-john-paul-ii-encyclical

The chancellor told CNN that Sanders' attendance "does not signify any support for the campaign," and that the academy sought to establish a dialogue between North and South America by inviting a U.S. politician.

"I don't know what is the problem," he told NCR. "We have two presidents from Latin America, and we don't have a problem. And we have a problem because we invited one candidate to the White House of your country? It's a little impossible to understand."

SNIP

At least one conference attendee who spoke on background said they anticipated a "generic academic conference" but are now "queasy" how Sanders' presence, and the political overtones accompanying him, might distort a more academic reflection on the interrelationships between markets and morality.

"It's just tricky to navigate those issues, and I don't know that a politician -- any politician, not Sanders in particular -- is well equipped to navigate them in a subtle and nuanced way," the attendee said.

Sanchez told NCR that "the real consideration here is not the question of the political effect," but rather to follow the task of the academy, to give deep consideration of social and political realities in light of the magisterium of the pope.