The Politics Corner – 04/15/16

By Christopher Motola

Sanders Invited to Speak at Vatican

Last Friday, Senator Bernie Sanders announced that he was invited to the Vatican by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in order to participate in a conference titled Centesimus Annus 25 Years Later. The conference, which marks the 25th anniversary of Saint Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, and will be a “serious academic discussion” that addresses “the changes in the world situation – economically, politically, and culturally – over the past 25 years,” as well as “how Catholic social teaching has engaged the world in order to ask how best the Church can do so in the coming years and decades.” Senator Sanders was invited to the event by head of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and aide to Pope Francis Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo. However, there was some initial dispute over the nature of Sanders’ invitation. The president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences told Bloomberg that “Sanders made the first move” in inviting himself, and that “he may be going for the Catholic vote but this is not the Catholic vote and he should remember that and act accordingly — not that he will.” Archer’s claims were quickly refuted by both members of Sanders’ campaign, as well as Monsignor Sordono himself, who released the official invitation that was sent to Sanders and claimed that the accusation was “not true and she knows it. I invited him with her consensus.” Despite rumors to the contrary, Sanders is not expecting to meet with Pope Francis while at the Vatican.

Colorado Controversy

Last August, the Republican Party cancelled their Colorado Caucus, instead opting to hold caucus meetings in order to select unpledged delegates. The meetings to select delegates were a major victory for Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz won all 34 of the state’s delegates, sparking a great amount of outrage, especially from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. The businessman took to Twitter in order to denounce what he viewed as a stolen victory: “The people of Colorado had their vote taken away from them by the phony politicians. Biggest story in politics. This will not be allowed!” Trump’s comments received backlash from RNC Chairman, Reince Priebus, who tweeted that the “Nomination process known for a year + beyond. It’s the responsibility of the campaigns to understand it. Complaints now? Give us all a break.” Yesterday, Trump made a tweet announcing that there would be a large protest march in Colorado this afternoon.