Shortly after Bernie Sanders was invited to the Vatican, some media outlets, starting with a Bloomberg report, began spreading a rumor stating that Bernie Sanders hadn’t been invited to the Vatican, but instead had invited himself in violation of proper protocol.
The Bloomberg report quoted Margaret Archer, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, saying that Sanders had broken with protocol by failing to contact her office first. That story was quickly picked up by Clinton supporters and others wishing to discredit Bernie Sanders.
Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, a close aide to Pope Francis, and chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which is hosting the event, responded to the false claims.
“This is not true and she knows it.
I invited him with her consensus,”
said Monsignor Sorondo.
An invitation to Sanders dated March 30 (shown below), which was emailed to Reuters, was signed by Sorondo and also included Archer’s name. Sorondo is senior to Archer.
For more about this story read “Papal official denies report Sanders invited himself to Vatican,” Reuters, Fri Apr 8, 2016 2:42 PM EDT.
Video: Bernie Sanders Discusses Vatican Invitation
Letter of Invitation from Vatican to Sanders
