the invitation was actually made by Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the pontifical academy, an autonomous institution that receives some funding from the Holy See but is not officially part of it.
In a
March 30 letter inviting Sanders to the event, Sánchez Sorondo wrote, “On behalf of the President, Professor Margaret Archer, the Organizers, and as Chancellor, I am very happy to invite you to attend the meeting on ‘Centesimus Annus: 25 Years Later.’ The meeting, which is humanitarian in its objects, will be held at the Casina Pio IV, the headquarters of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, from 15 to 16 April 2016.”
On Friday, Archer slammed Sanders’ “monumental dishonesty,” telling
Bloomberg that Sanders was the one who had made the first move regarding the meeting “for obvious reasons.”
“I think in a sense 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 said. It was not clear to what “dishonesty” Archer was referring, and requests for comment to her office were not returned.
Asked why Sanders claimed the Vatican had invited him to the conference, the Sanders campaign referred POLITICO to Michael Shank, a media consultant who works with Sachs and said he “occasionally” handles press relations for Vatican conferences.
