The Man Allegedly Behind the Bernie Sanders Visit to the Vatican

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Amid conflicting reports about just how the famous pro-abortion socialist Bernie Sanders ended up at the Vatican meeting the Pope, one claim is that the Democrat presidential hopeful was invited by Bp. Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

That claim comes from none other than Bp. Sorondo himself, who recently denied Sanders had invited himself, which Margaret Archer, the president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, had alleged.

A spokesman for the Sanders campaign also ended up saying Archer's story was false, and Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said Sanders was invited as well. So, is Bp. Sorondo the man behind the Vatican's run-in with American politics? It would certainly be consistent with the prelate's apparent political leanings.

The topic of climate change also featured prominently — and controversially — in Pope Francis' "Laudato Sí," the climate-relevant parts of which are said to be written by atheist and population control proponent Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. And who is rumored to be responsible for choosing Schellnhuber for such a task? Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo.

When the Vatican collaborated with the United Nations (UN) and its Sustainable Development Goals, which many criticize for its ties to abortion and population control, Bp. Sorondo was quick to defend the move by sticking up for the UN.

We had these discussions, and as you can see, the draft SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] don't even mention abortion or population control. They speak of access to family planning and sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. The interpretation and application of these depends on governments. Some may even interpret it as Paul VI, in terms of responsible paternity and maternity.

The problem with the defense is that the UN's SDG plans did in fact include pushing abortion and contraceptives. In other words, "sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights" were exactly the euphemisms everyone familiar with the political landscape have always known them to be.

Sorondo has a history of inviting exclusively leftist ideologues to Vatican events. For example, when the Vatican had a summit on global warming last year, anyone who would argue against its reality was promptly disinvited by Bp. Sorondo. Among those removed from the list of attendees was British journalist Lord Christopher Monckton, who once served as a policy advisor to anti-Socialist Margaret Thatcher. Monckton deems Bp. Sorondo "an out-and-out Marxist."

So, at the end of the day, whether Bp. Sorondo really was the man responsible for Bernie Sanders' trip to the Vatican or not, it would seem consistent with the political affiliations of this high-ranking Vatican prelate.

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