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Bernie Sanders says he met with Pope Francis.

Backdropped by St. Peter's Basilica dome, US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders meets reporters outside the Perugino gate at the Vatican, Friday, April 15, 2016. Sanders spoke at a conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of "Centesimus Annus," a high-level teaching document by Pope John Paul II on the economy and social justice at the end of the Cold War. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP)
Backdropped by St. Peter's Basilica dome, US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders meets reporters outside the Perugino gate at the Vatican, Friday, April 15, 2016. Sanders spoke at a conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of "Centesimus Annus," a high-level teaching document by Pope John Paul II on the economy and social justice at the end of the Cold War. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP)

By Associated Press 2 min read

ROME (AP) – Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said in an interview with The Associated Press that he met with Pope Francis.

Sanders said the meeting took place Saturday morning before the pope left for his one-day visit to Greece. He said he was honored by the meeting, and that he told the pope he appreciated the message that he is sending the world about the need to inject morality and justice into the world economy. Sanders said it’s a message he has been sending as well.

“We had an opportunity to meet with him this morning,” Sanders said. “It was a real honor for me, for my wife and I to spend some time with him. I think he is one of the extraordinary figures not only in the world today but in modern world history.”

Sanders said it was a brief meeting at the papal residence. “I told him that I was incredibly appreciative of the incredible role that he is playing in this planet in discussing issues about the need for an economy based on morality, not greed.”

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, a Sanders foreign policy adviser and adviser to the United Nations on climate change, said there were no photographs taken of the meeting.