Pope slams both Harris and Trump as ‘against life’ and urges Catholics to vote for ‘lesser evil’
ON BOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — ON BOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis criticized both US presidential candidates on Friday for what he called anti-life policies on abortion and migration, and advised American Catholics to choose who they think is the “lesser evil” in the upcoming US elections.
“Both are against life, whether it is the one who throws out migrants or the one who kills babies,” Francis said.
The Argentine Jesuit was asked to give advice to American Catholic voters during an airborne press conference as he flew back to Rome from his four-country tour of AsiaFrancis stressed that he is not American and would not vote.
Neither Republican candidate Donald Trump nor Democratic candidate Kamala Harris were mentioned by name.
But Francis nevertheless spoke in clear terms when asked to give their positions on two burning issues in the US election – abortion and migration – that are also of great importance to the Catholic Church.
Francis has made the situation of migrants a priority of his pontificate, speaking out on it emphatically and frequently. While he strongly upholds the Church’s teaching that prohibits abortion, Francis has not emphasized Church teaching as much as his predecessors.
Francis said migration is a right described in Scripture and that anyone who does not follow the biblical call to welcome strangers commits a “grave sin.”
He was also blunt in his statements about abortion. “To have an abortion is to kill a human being. You may or may not like the word, but it is killing,” he said. “We have to see this clearly.”
When asked what voters should do at the polls, Francis recalled the civic duty to vote.
“One must vote and choose the lesser evil,” he said. “Who is the lesser evil, the woman or the man? I don’t know.
“Everyone with a conscience should think and do this,” he said.
The Harris and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
U.S. President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, shares Harris’ strong support for abortion rights, a stance that has prompted some Catholic bishops and other conservatives to call for him to be barred from receiving 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.
When asked earlier about US bishops wanting to deny Biden communion over his support for abortion rights, Francis said bishops should be pastors, not politicians.
Friday’s press conference wasn’t the first time Francis has spoken out about 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 declared that anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants “is not a Christian.”
In his comments on Friday, Francis recalled that he had celebrated Mass at the US-Mexico border and that there were “so many shoes of migrants who had come there in bad shape.”
Trump promises mass deportations, just as he did in his first White House when there was a wide gap between his ambitions and the legal, financial and political realities of such an undertaking.
The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference, for its part, has called abortion the “top priority” for American Catholics in its published voter advisory. Harris has been a strong advocate defended the right to abortion and emphasized support to restore federal abortion rights.
In his remarks, the Pope added: “About abortion, science says that one month after conception, all the organs of a human being are already there, every one of them. To perform an abortion is to kill 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 allow abortion. The Church does not allow abortion because it is killing. It is murder.”
However, it’s not until the first few weeks of pregnancy that cells begin the process of developing into organs. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that by 13 weeks, all major organs have formed. For example, heart tissue begins to form in the first two months — initially a tube that only later evolves into the four chambers that define the heart.
In other comments, Francis:
— denied a French media report that he would travel to Paris for the December opening of the restored Notre Dame Cathedral, saying flatly that he would not be there. But he confirmed that he would like to go to the Canary Islands to draw attention to the plight of migrants.
— quashed renewed speculation that he might finally return to Argentina later this year, saying he wants to go but that nothing has been decided yet. He added: “There are several things that need to be resolved first.” Francis has not been home since the 2013 conclave that elected him pope.
— stated that China “a promise and a hope” for the Catholic Church and hoped to visit it someday.
– called sexual abuse “demonic” and addressed the latest revelations about an attack on a legendary French priest, Abbe Pierre.
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AP medical writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.
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