Sure, we may disagree on a few things, but hey, nobodys infallible, right?
"Sure, we may disagree on a few things, but hey, nobody's infallible, right?" Trevor Collens / Shutterstock.com

Marriage can only be "between a man and a woman," wrote Jorge Bergoglio this week, and queer couples "radically contradict this ideal." He's also called marriage quality "an attempt to destroy God’s plan... a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God."

Allowing same-sex parents to have families is "discrimination against children." He said trans people should practice "acceptance of our bodies as God's gift," and said that gender fluidity is comparable to "nuclear arms... with this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator."

He organized a summit on "traditional marriage" and invited Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, a man who compares LGBT equality to the holocaust.

And now Bergoglio has a new friend: Bernie Sanders, who says, "I am a big, big fan of the pope."

At the invitation of Bergoglio, who recently adopted the stage name Pope Francis, Bernie's traveling to the Vatican next week to talk at a church conference on "social, economic, and environmental issues." There are areas in which his attitudes probably align fairly closely with those of the pope. On gay marriage and abortion ... well, like Thanksgiving with the family, they might do their best to avoid topics that cause a fight. Particularly with the visit coming just a few days before the New York primary. (What a coincidence.)

"He’s talking about the idolatry of money, the worship of money, the greed that’s out there," said Sanders of the pope. "How our whole culture is based on 'I need more and more, and I don’t have to worry about veterans sleeping out on the street or elderly people who can’t afford their prescription drugs.' And he’s trying to inject the sense of morality into how we do economics.”

He added, "Obviously there are areas that we disagree on — women's rights and gay rights, but he has played an unbelievable role of injecting a moral consequence into the economy."

He concluded that he was "very moved by the invitation." Sure, okay, he's moved. But is he surprised? Probably not, because his campaign apparently begged the church for an invitation.

“Sanders made the first move, for the obvious reasons,” said Margaret Archer, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (the pope-founded organization hosting the talk). She accused him of "monumental discourtesy" and "he may be going for the Catholic vote but this is not the Catholic vote and he should remember that and act accordingly — not that he will."

Yikes, tough crowd! Watch out for nuns carrying rotten tomatoes in the audience, Bernie. Haha, just kidding, I'm sure you'll be fine. They're apparently big fans of another Jew who preached tolerance, so I'm sure they'll love whatever you have to say.