U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Saturday met with Pope Francis to discuss climate change, foreign policy and the dearth of morality in the marketplace.
“He’s a beautiful man,” Mr. Sanders said in an interview with ABC News after the meeting. “I am not a Catholic, but there is a radiance that comes from him. It was very wonderful to meet him.”
Mr. Sanders called the pontiff “one of the great leaders in modern world history.”
“I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the planet and injecting the need for morality in the global economy,” he said.
The 5-minute meeting came one day after the Democratic presidential hopeful blasted “immoral and unsustainable” income inequality at a Vatican conference on social justice hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
Mr. Sanders said the pope apologized for not being able to attend the conference, citing complications with his upcoming trip to Greece.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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