On board the papal planePope Francis on Friday criticized both U.S. presidential candidates for what he called anti-life policies on abortion and immigration, and advised American Catholics to choose whoever they believe is the “lesser evil” in the upcoming U.S. election.
“Both are against life, whether it is the one who expels migrants or the one who kills babies,” said Francis.
The Argentine Jesuit priest was asked to provide advice to American Catholic voters during an on-air news conference as he returned to Rome from his four-nation tour of Asia. Francis stressed that he is not American and will not vote.
None of the Republican candidates Donald Trump Not even Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was mentioned by name.
But Francis spoke in harsh terms when asked to comment on his positions on two contentious issues in the U.S. election — abortion and migration — that are also of great concern to the Catholic Church.
Francis has made the plight of immigrants a priority of his pontificate and speaks out emphatically and frequently on the issue. While he strongly defends the Church’s teaching banning abortion, Francis has not placed as much emphasis on Church doctrine as his predecessors.
Francis said migration is a right described in Scripture and that anyone who does not follow the biblical call to welcome the stranger is committing a “grave sin.”
He was also blunt when speaking about abortion. “Aborting is killing a human being. You may like the word or not, but it is killing,” he said. “We have to see it clearly.”
Asked what voters should do at the polls, Francis recalled the civic duty to vote.
“You have to vote and choose the lesser evil,” he said. “Who is the lesser evil, the woman or the man? I don’t know.”
“Everyone should think about it and do it in their own conscience,” he said.
The Harris and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
President of the United States Joe Biden An observant Catholic, he shares Harris’s strong support for abortion rights, a stance that led some Catholic bishops and other conservatives to call for her to be denied access to communion.
After meeting Francis in person at the Vatican in October 2021, Biden said the pope told him he was a “good Catholic” and should continue receiving Communion.
Francis, asked in the past about some American bishops who want to deny communion to Biden because of his support for abortion rights, has said bishops should be pastors, not politicians.
Friday’s news conference was not the first time Francis has weighed in on a U.S. election. In the run-up to the 2016 election, Francis was asked about Trump’s plan to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Francis then declared that anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants “is not Christian.”
Responding on Friday, Francis recalled that he celebrated Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border and “there were so many migrant shoes that ended up badly there.”
Trump is promising mass deportations, just as he did in his first run for the White House, when there was a huge gap between his ambitions and the legal, financial and political realities of such an initiative.
For its part, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called abortion the “preeminent priority” for American Catholics in its published recommendation to voters. Harris has strongly defended abortion rights and has emphasized her support for restoring federal abortion rights.
In his speech, the Pope added: “Regarding abortion, science says that one month after conception, all the organs of a human being are already there, all of them. Performing an abortion is killing a human being. Whether you like the word or not, this is killing. You cannot say that the Church is closed because it does not permit abortion. The Church does not permit abortion because it is killing. It is murder.”
However, cells only begin to develop into organs during the first few weeks of pregnancy. For example, heart tissue begins to form in the first two months — initially a tube that later evolves into the four chambers that define the heart. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that by 13 weeks, all major organs have already formed.
In other comments, Francis:
— denied a report in the French media that he would travel to Paris for the opening of the restored Notre Dame cathedral in December, saying flatly that he would not be there. But he confirmed that he would like to go to the Canary Islands to denounce the plight of migrants.
— quashed speculation that he might return to Argentina this year, saying he wants to go but nothing has been decided. He added: “There are several things to resolve first.” Francis has not been to Argentina since before the 2013 conclave that elected him pope.
— said China was “a promise and a hope” for the Catholic Church and he hoped to visit it one day.
— called sexual abuse “demonic” and spoke out about the latest revelations of assault against a legendary French priest, Abbé Pierre.
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