They go into the opportunistic kerfluffle a bit, but mostly stick to how cool this invite reallly is:
Even so, the simple fact of Sanders’s visit is remarkable: As a fairly progressive non-Catholic, he’s a curious choice of a speaker for a group of academically minded priests. In the middle of a tight race to the Democratic convention and presidential nomination, it’s also striking that he’s taking precious time off the campaign trail for a jaunt to Rome.
[...]
Jeffrey Sachs, a Columbia University professor who is presenting at the event, said in a phone interview that he helped the Vatican reach out to Bernie Sanders in March, and he doesn’t know why Archer alleged that the Sanders campaign initiated the gig. “The academy sent the invitation, it’s pure and simple,” he said. “A lot of people in the Vatican respect him a lot. He is speaking in the same kind of moral themes that Pope Francis, and the social teachings of the Church, promote, which is a moral economy.” A representative who works with Sachs also passed along an official invitation from Sanchez Sorondo to Sanders dated on March 30. But even though the invite appeared to come from an official Church body, that doesn’t mean it came from Pope Francis, and a spokesperson for the Vatican said it hasn’t been confirmed whether the senator and the pontiff will have a sit-down in Rome.
But although the venue isn’t much like the small-town high-school gymnasiums where Sanders has spent much of his time in recent weeks, this is another moment of Bernie being Bernie: taking any chance he can to decry the ills of the capitalism and the global economy, and to advance his vision of social justice.
Right the fuck on.