Pope Francis defended his meeting with US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders last week, saying it was a “polite” gesture. The Pope met the Democrat senator last Saturday before flying to Lesbos. Mr Sanders was staying in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse, where Francis lives. The Pope told reporters on the flight home from Greece: “If someone thinks greeting someone is to get involved in politics, I recommend he see a psychiatrist.” A day earlier, Mr Sanders had spoken at a conference organised by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Centesimus Annus, Pope St John Paul II’s teaching on the economy and social justice. His speech quoted heavily from Pope Francis, Pope St John Paul II and even Pope Leo XIII, who more than a century ago “highlighted economic issues and challenges in Rerum Novarum that continue to haunt us today, such as what he called ‘the enormous wealth of a few as opposed to the poverty of the many’.” The situation is worse today, Mr Sanders said. “In the year 2016, the top one per cent of the people on this planet own more wealth than the bottom 99 per cent, while the wealthiest 60 people – 60 people – own more than the bottom half – 31⁄2 billion people,” he said. He quoted Pope Francis: “We have created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.” He continued: “Pope Francis has called on the world to say: ‘No to a financial system that rules rather than serves’ in Ev­an­gelii Gaudium. And he called upon financial executives and political leaders to pursue financial reform that is informed by ethical considerations. He stated plainly and powerfully that the role of wealth and resources in a moral economy must be that of servant, not master.” Mr Sanders concluded: “Our challenge is mostly a moral one, to redirect our efforts and vision to the common good. Centesimus Annus ... and Laud­ato Si’ are powerful, eloquent and hope­ful messages of this possibility. It is up to us to learn from them, and to move boldly towards the common good in our time.”