A Democratic contender for the US presidency, Bernie Sanders, is going to the Vatican to speak in a conference on economics.
But how this came about has become a point of contention.
While the US senator said he accepted a Vatican invitation, one of the conference’s organisers said that his campaign had lobbied for his inclusion.
Margaret Archer, president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which is hosting the conference said “Sanders made the first move, for obvious reasons”.
The invitation sent to Mr Sanders was signed by Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.