into the mass, a stricken look crossed his face, the look of a man who had long insisted he was trying not to politicize his less-than-a-day-long stay on Roman and Vatican soil, but who was suddenly aware that dozens of cameras from across the world were pointed straight at him, just inches from his face while Vatican security and Secret Service tried to wedge in around him.

Pinned near the well-worn brick walls, he launched into a hoarse but emotional version of his now-familiar recitation of his affinity for Pope Francis and said the pope’s environmental encyclical was having real-world effects. Sanders insisted it was important for him to be here, no matter the timing of Tuesday’s high-stakes New York primary.

Within minutes, he swiftly swiveled back up the driveway,beyond the ancient barriers, after hearing a question he didn’t much like — about whether he was courting Catholic voters with this trip.

He almost didn’t make it to the conference in time. The trip started on a frenzied note Thursday night as airport-bound campaign staffers and reporters piled into Sanders’ patchwork motorcade of white and black vans seconds after the evening’s debate in Brooklyn ended.

The candidate, however, stayed behind, and aides fretted as they watched the candidate talk to CNN on their phones and followed his progress on Twitter, the minutes ticking by and the already tight schedule getting tighter. Once Sanders finally peeled away, he rocketed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to JFK Airport, pulling up on the tarmac to a massive, gleaming, chartered Delta 767 —