Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is expected to return to the U.S. tonight after making a quick visit to the Vatican, where he bumped into and shook hands with Pope Francis, who wasn’t scheduled to meet with Sanders but thought it would be polite to say “Hi” to the man who’s been plastering a campaign logo on top of his photo while bragging at Thursday’s debate about his 100 percent pro-choice voting record.
Pope Francis says he greeted Bernie Sanders as a "courtesy," denies any political overtones https://t.co/KfLtsgdO2j pic.twitter.com/CDkzUiJ2Sy
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 16, 2016
So Sanders did get a handshake, but that was it. Pope Francis had other concerns, such a preparing for his trip to the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos and returning to the Vatican with 12 Syrian refugees on the papal plane.
Pope Francis takes three Syrian refugee families back to Vatican https://t.co/MhL8HkGJdz pic.twitter.com/0bVIGgXrdl
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) April 16, 2016
We won’t fault the pope for extending mercy to these three families and blessing them with some income inequality, but we’re also in no rush to demonize European leaders who are struggling to deal with an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees, some of whom are given picture books to help them distinguish between German women in everyday clothing and prostitutes.
Pope Francis just shamed Europe by saving 12 refugees: https://t.co/vmUV1ajdJZ pic.twitter.com/8SF8qqz3xr
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 16, 2016
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https://twitter.com/3v11/status/721407935168061440
@thedailybeast Hundreds of millions in assets, and 12 refugees … how does he do it?
— K®istian (@Scy_2K) April 16, 2016
@thedailybeast Germany has taken in between 250K and 500K Syrian refugees; the US a little over 3K; and THIS shames EUROPE?
— REGINA ☃️?? (@regwag2003) April 16, 2016
For those who were curious, the pope did not pick out the families on the spot like a child might pick its favorite kitten out of a litter. PBS reported that the six adults and six children were “chosen through negotiations between Greek and Italian authorities” from “among hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking refuge in Europe.” The New York Times adds that “the relocation of the refugees had involved planning and paperwork by the governments of the Vatican, Italy and Greece.”
Did someone say paperwork? So these particular refugees were vetted first before being moved into the Vatican? Is the Vatican afraid of widows and orphans too?
The Daily Beast, which hasn’t reported taking in any Syrian refugees of its own, could have added that Pope Francis shamed the United States as well, making that one dinner date look downright stingy.
As Twitchy reported, Samantha Power, United States ambassador to the United Nations, did her part by inviting one family of Syrian refugees over for spaghetti dinner at her Waldorf Towers penthouse, and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy recently won the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for personally welcoming a single family of Syrian refugees to New Haven.
Pope Francis' acts of love should inspire us as Americans and we should heed his call to welcome refugees with open arms.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 16, 2016
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