Sanders to visit Vatican days before New York primary

Bernie Sanders will attend a special conference less than a week before the New York primary — at the Vatican.

The Sanders campaign announced Friday that the Vermont senator accepted an invitation from the Vatican to attend a conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on April 15 —  four days before a pivotal New York primary contest against Hillary Clinton.

“I am delighted to have been invited by the Vatican to a meeting on restoring social justice and environmental sustainability to the world economy," Sanders said. "Pope Francis has made clear that we must overcome ‘the globalization of indifference’ in order to reduce economic inequalities, stop financial corruption and protect the natural environment. That is our challenge in the United States and in the world.”

The campaign noted that the date, April 15, is the 25th anniversary of "an important encyclical of Pope John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, which called for an economy of dignity, social justice and environmental sustainability."

In an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Sanders said he disagrees with the pope on issues such as women's and gay rights but was "moved" by the invitation to the conference to discuss the poor.

"He has played an unbelievable role, an unbelievable role, of injecting a moral consequence into the economy," Sanders said.

He said, "There are people who think that Bernie Sanders is radical. Read what the pope is writing. What he is saying is ... that we have to pay attention to what he calls the 'dispossessed.' ”