Report: Vatican rules out Sanders, Francis meeting

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will not meet with Pope Francis during his trip to the Vatican this week, The New York Times reported on Friday.

{mosads}“There won’t be a meeting with the Holy Father,” said Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman.

On the campaign trail, Sanders has repeatedly praised the pontiff for his stance on climate change and his commitment to helping the poor. He announced his invite to a Vatican conference last week, though it had been unclear whether the Vermont senator would be personally meeting with Francis.

“I was very moved by the invitation. I am a big, big fan of the pope,” Sanders said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” last week.

“People think Bernie Sanders is radical. Read what the pope is writing.”

Lombardi made clear last week that Sanders had been invited “not by the pope but by the pontifical academy of social sciences.”

Sanders will return to New York on Sunday, two days before the state’s primary, in which front-runner Hillary Clinton is heavily favored.