This is strange. I thought elsewhere in a different article that Bernie claims he did meet briefly w/ the Pope privately (see below ny times misleading title) Maybe the Vatican wants to make sure they know he did not meet with Bernie. I mean let's be honest about it, Bernie Sanders represents the opposite of what the catholic church & the Pope stand for. Bernie is pro abortion , Catholic Church is anti abortion & pro life. Bernie is pro gay marriage, Catholic Church is anti gay marriage or pro traditional marriage . there is no so-called gay marriage in the Catholic Church.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3542163/Pope-apologies-missing-Vatican-meeting-Bernie-Sanders-rushed-New-York-attend.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
NO HE DID NOT: "Bernie Sanders Meets With Pope Francis" ny times misleading title suggests that Bernie & the Pope had a meet-&-greet sit-down talk, but in fact, if you read the above link (daily mail) you will see that the pope told Bernie he could not meet with him at the conference Bernie attended, but, for politeness sake, if Bernie wanted to shake the pope's hand, he should be at a certain hall at 6am as the pope was leaving for a trip, and they briefly shook hands in passing.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/us/politics/bernie-sanders-pope-francis-vatican.html?referer=http://www.google.com/m?q=BERNIE+met+briefly+w+the+pope&client=ms-opera-mini-android&channel=newVk
also see
