Who paid for Sanders' trip to the Vatican? The campaign? nt

[riderinthestorm]

43. I hope so. You can't buy this kind of coverage for any amount of money

ROME — U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders says he met privately with Pope Francis during his overnight trip here, his spokesman said.  

The meeting took place at the papal residence early Saturday, according Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs.  

A Vatican source said the meeting was not a chance encounter and had been planned.  

The Sanders campaign had been vague about the senator's itinerary here following his address Friday to a Vatican conference. Francis left Rome later Saturday for Greece, where he is visiting migrants stuck on the island of Lesbos. The reticence about a Sanders meeting may be an attempt to avoid the perception that Francis is endorsing Sanders or otherwise involving himself in American politics.  

Sanders was invited to address a Vatican seminar on income inequality and economic justice, and took an unusual break from the Democratic primary campaign trail to attend. He had said in a Washington Post interview last week that he admired Francis and hoped to meet him, but that nothing was set.  

Sanders quotes Francis frequently in his address to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and told reporters afterward that the pope has had enormous influence in airing issues of wealth disparity and climate change.  


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/16/italian-media-sanders-met-privately-with-pope-francis/