"People think Bernie Sanders is radical?" said the senator himself, shaking his head. "Read what the pope is writing."
Thanks to an invite from the Vatican, Sanders will leave the campaign trail after his April 14 debate with Hillary Clinton, and fly to Rome for an event the next day at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
He will gather with other world leaders to discuss changes in politics, economics, and culture in the light of Pope Francis' new encylical Laudato si', according to a statement released from the Pontifical Academy.
Sanders explained his deep affinity for Pope Francis in a recent interview about the invitation on MSNBC's Morning Joe.
"I am a big, big fan of the pope," said the Democratic presidential hopeful. "... Obviously there are areas where we disagree on women's rights or gay rights, but he has played an unbelievable role — an unbelievable role —of injecting a moral consequence into the economy."
Sanders also explained what exactly makes Pope Francis' message "radical."
"What he is saying is not only that we have to pay attention to the dispossessed ... but you know what else he's talking about? The idolatry of money, the worship of money, the greed that's out there, how our how culture is based on 'I need more and more and more.'"
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"He's trying to inject a sense of morality into how we do economics. We need that absolutely desperately."
Watch Sanders speak about his invitation to the Vatican:
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