Rome: Pope Francis criticised both US presidential contenders, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, for what he called “anti-life policies” on abortion and migration, advising American Catholics to vote for the “lesser evil” in the forthcoming US elections.
“Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants or the one who (supports) killing babies,” Francis said on Friday to reporters aboard his plane returning to Rome after a 12-day tour of Asia.
Francis stressed that he was not an American and would not be voting.
However, he did not mention either the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, or the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, by name.
Francis, nevertheless, expressed himself in stark terms when asked to weigh in on their positions on two hot-button issues in the US election — abortion and migration — that are also of major concern to the Catholic Church.
Francis has made the issue of migrants a top priority of his pontificate, speaking out with unwavering strength and frequency about it, underlining the urgency of the matter.
While strongly supporting church teaching against abortion, Francis has not placed as much emphasis on church doctrine as his predecessors.
He said that migration is a right described in Scripture and that anyone who doesn’t follow the Biblical call to welcome the stranger is committing a “grave sin.”
He was also blunt in speaking about abortion.
“To have an abortion is to kill a human being. You may like the word or not, but it’s killing,” he said.
“We have to see this clearly.”
Asked though what to do at the polls, Francis recalled the civic duty to vote.
“One should vote and choose the lesser evil,” he said.
“Who is the lesser evil, the woman or man? I don’t know.”
“Everyone in their conscience should think and do it,” he said.
It’s not the first time Francis has weighed in on a US election.
In the run-up to the 2016 election, Francis was questioned about Trump’s proposal to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Francis then warned that anyone who builds a wall to keep refugees out is “not Christian.”
In responding on Friday, Francis recalled that he celebrated Mass at the US-Mexico border and “there were so many shoes of the migrants who ended up badly there”.
The US bishops conference, for its part, has called abortion the “preeminent priority” for American Catholics in its published voter advice. Harris has strongly defended abortion rights.
US President Joe Biden, an observant Catholic, shares Harris’ strong support for abortion rights, prompting some Catholic bishops and other conservatives to demand that he be denied Communion.
After seeing Francis in person at the Vatican in October 2021, Biden reported that the pope informed him he was a “good Catholic” and should continue to receive Communion.
When asked about some US bishops who want to deny Biden Communion because he supports abortion rights, Francis has previously stated that bishops should be pastors, not politicians.
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–IANS
