An American Senator invited to attend a Vatican conference

On Friday afternoon April 8, answering questions of journalists at the Vatican, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, Director of the Holy See Press Office stated that Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont, USA) was invited to the Centesimus Annus: 25 Years Later conference taking place on April 15 at the Vatican. The conference theme is restoring social justice and environmental sustainability to the world economy.

The event includes various experts and leaders from the world of economy, special sciences and politics. The invitations to this conference are not from the Pope but rather from Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, an autonomous institution that receives funding from the Holy See but is not officially part of it.

The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences has the aim of promoting the study and progress of the social, economic, political and juridical sciences, offering the Church the elements which she can use in the study and development of her social doctrine. The Academy also reflects on the application of that doctrine in contemporary society.