Over the course of the next hour, Sanders talked about familiar proposals but sought to steer the conversation to what he said motivates him and other social justice advocates to push for them.

In making the case for making prescription drugs more affordable, for example, Sanders argued that pharmaceutical companies are skirting their moral duty by making “unbelievable profits” at a time when people are dying because they can’t afford their products.

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Sanders also took at aim at Goldman Sachs, relaying that the company recently agreed to a $5 billion settlement to resolve state and federal investigations into its handling of mortgage-backed securities in the years leading up to the 2008 crisis.

“What does it say morally when the most powerful people in this country essentially acknowledge that they have been operating in a fraudulent, illegal manner?” Sanders asked his audience.

His appearance here came just hours after he returned from a whirlwind trip to the Vatican, where Sanders, a secular Jew, participated in a conference on income inequality and met briefly with Pope Francis.

Sanders appeared eager to get back out on the campaign trail in New York, where he faces a crucial primary Tuesday in his fight for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton.

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Sanders also used Saturday night’s event to talk in unusually personal terms about growing up in a family of modest means. He shared that he and his brother often witnessed their parents yelling at each other about money.

He said he also remembered vividly that when he wanted a leather jacket as a boy, his mother took him to 15 different stores in attempt to find the best bargain.

His upbringing, Sanders said, has informed his work on economic issues.

“I don’t want to see lives destroyed, people suffering because they just don’t have the kind of money they need to live in dignity,” he said.

During the course of the discussion, Sanders also praised the work of the Black Lives Matter movement for raising the profile of deaths of African Americans.

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“We owe a debt of gratitude to the Black Lives Matter movement for substantially raising consciousness on this very important issue,” he said of the group that he first encountered last summer when activists interrupted a pair of his appearances.

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Sanders was joined on the panel by academic Cornel West, a Christian; Jewish rabbi Sara Luria; and Linda Sarsour, executive director of Arab American Association of New York and a Muslim.

She called Sanders “the only moral choice that you have in this race.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton had been billed as a participant on the panel but did not show. Aides to Sanders said they had been told he had a scheduling conflict.

Earlier Saturday night, Sanders stopped by an exhibit of art inspired by his campaign. He, his wife and several family members toured the small gallery, taking in the drawing and paintings, as well as Muppet-like caricature of Sanders that included his wild white hair and prominent glasses.

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In remarks to some of the artists and others at the gallery, Sanders said he was amazed by “all kinds of things that are happening more or less spontaneously” and praised the “incredibly creative art.”

“This is just another manifestation of what we mean by a political revolution,” Sanders said. “The revolution takes many, many forms.”

He also predicted a victory in New York in coming days.