Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Bernie Sanders didn’t meet Pope Francis. But he had high praise for Catholic social teaching.

Bernie Sanders didn’t meet Pope Francis. But he had high praise for Catholic social teaching.

Last updated on: April 15, 2016 at 7:51 pm by CNA Daily News

Bernie Sanders didn’t meet Pope Francis. But he had high praise for Catholic social teaching. 2016-04-15T19:51:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vatican City, Apr 15, 2016 / 01:51 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis didn’t attend U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (D-Vt.) speech at the Vatican, but the presidential candidate provided a long reflection on Catholic social teaching, as he saw it.

Sanders spoke Friday at a conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s “Centesimus Annus.” The senator commented:

“With the fall of Communism, Pope John Paul II gave a clarion call for human freedom in its truest sense: freedom that defends the dignity of every person and that is always oriented towards the common good.”

The April 15-16 conference was sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which fosters dialogue between scientists, politicians and various experts.

At the start of the gathering, Archbishop Sanchez Sorondo, the academy’s chancellor, read a letter from the Pope. The letter said he could not make the event. Pope Francis said that his agenda was “quite complicated” because of his Saturday trip to visit migrants and refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Pope Francis’ letter to the gathering did not mention Sen. Sanders or any of the other participants.

John Paul II’s 1991 encyclical marked the anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum,” a major landmark in Catholic social teaching.

“There are few places in modern thought that rival the depth and insight of the Church’s moral teachings on the market economy,” Sanders said in remarks to the conference. He cited Leo XIII’s encyclical that described the challenges of “the enormous wealth of a few opposed to the poverty of the many.”

“At a time when so few have so much, and so many have so little, we must reject the foundations of this contemporary economy as immoral and unsustainable,” Sanders commented.

“We are now twenty-five years after the fall of Communist rule in Eastern Europe. Yet we have to acknowledge that Pope John Paul’s warnings about the excesses of untrammeled finance were deeply prescient.”

The senator cited problems with financial speculation, illegal flow of money, environmental destruction, globalization, financial deregulation, corporate power in politics and weakening rights of workers. He said that “widespread financial criminality on Wall Street” helped cause “the world’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.”

Sen. Sanders said that economic consequences for working families have been direr.

He repeatedly cited Pope Francis. “Man is not in charge today, money is in charge, money rules,” he said, citing the Pope’s words against the world’s “new idols.”

“The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal,” the Pope had said.

The senator also cited the Pope’s criticism of ideologies that “uphold the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation,” because this denies States the right to control them for the common good.

Sen. Sanders echoed the Pope’s rejection of “a financial system that rules rather than serves.”

In the face of financial corruption, Sanders said, Pope Francis is an example “against such a surrender to despair and cynicism.”

“He has opened the eyes of the world once again to the claims of mercy, justice and the possibilities of a better world. He is inspiring the world to find a new global consensus for our common home.”

The senator also drew on Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si.”

“The challenges facing our planet are not mainly technological or even financial, because as a world we are rich enough to increase our investments in skills, infrastructure, and technological know-how to meet our needs and to protect the planet,” he said. “Our challenge is mostly a moral one, to redirect our efforts and vision to the common good.”

Sen. Sanders, who is Jewish, is currently battling for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The New York primary election, a major event in the campaign cycle, will take place April 19.

While Sanders applauded parts of Church teaching, some of his beliefs are strongly at odds with Catholic belief.

In his April 14 debate with Clinton, Sanders said he has a “100 percent pro-choice voting record.” He called for increased federal funding for the politically powerful abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

Sanders has also sided with LGBT political causes over religious liberty concerns, vowing to veto “any legislation that purports to ‘protect’ religious liberty at the expense of other’s rights.”

Vatican

Previous Post

April 15, 2016

After Easter Sunday terror, Pakistan's Catholics see hope in new priests

Next Post

April 15, 2016 Shakespeare's Hamlet swings by the Vatican

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the primary form of greeting in Biblical times?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Wave Handshake Kiss Bow