Pope says both Trump and Harris are ‘against life’

Asked his advice to Catholic voters in the coming U.S. presidential election, Pope Francis said they must choose the “lesser of two evils” because “both are against life” — Kamala Harris for her support for abortion rights, and Donald Trump for closing the door to immigrants.

“Sending migrants away, not allowing them to grow, not letting them have life is something wrong; it is cruelty,” Francis said in a news conference on the plane as he returned to Rome after his long trip to Southeast Asia and Oceania. “Sending a child away from the womb of the mother is murder because there is life. And we must speak clearly about these things.”

The remarks came as Francis, 87, concluded a grueling 11-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region that included stops in Jakarta, East Timor and Singapore, showcasing his commitment to reach out to the faithful in what he calls “the peripheries” and to build a less Eurocentric church that looks to Asia.

His stance on the American presidential race reflects the divide among Catholic voters in the United States, who in previous elections have been just as split between the parties as the larger electorate. The American bishops conference similarly advises Catholics to take the array of church teaching into account in the voting booth and does not endorse candidates — although some bishops weigh in more explicitly.

Francis described the rejection of migrants as a “grave sin” and “cruelty,” and abortion as “murder.” He said that both “are against life” and clearly wrong.

But when asked whether it would be morally admissible to vote for someone who favored the right to abortion, he responded: “One must vote. And one must choose the lesser evil. Which is the lesser evil? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know. Each person must think and decide according to his or her own conscience.”

Francis did not mention either candidate by name.

Francis was also asked about the situation in the Gaza Strip, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in 11 months of war that began after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

“When you see the bodies of children killed, when you hear that schools are bombed because guerrillas might be inside, it’s horrifying. It’s horrible, it’s horrible,” Francis said.

“It’s sometimes said that this is a defensive war, but sometimes I believe that it’s a war, too much, too much,” the pope said, his words faltering. “I apologize for saying this, but I don’t see steps being taken toward peace.”

Francis added that he spoke every day to a parish in Gaza, where both Christians and Muslims attend its schools. “They tell me horrible stories, difficult things,” he said, adding that the Holy See had been working to help mediate a cease-fire.

Francis’ views on abortion and migration were nothing new. But they became particularly relevant in the context of the coming elections in the United States, in which both are central issues.

“Both are against life: the one that throws out migrants and the one that kills children,” Francis said.

The Catholic Church considers abortion a grave sin, and Francis has often referred to abortion as murder, even in the case of a fetus that is ill or has pathological disorders. In 2018, he compared abortion to contracting “a hit man to solve a problem,” and in his most recent papal document, issued this year, he firmly restated the church’s rejection of abortion, the death penalty and physician-assisted suicide.

At the same time, he has made the plight of migrants a centerpiece of his papacy, urging compassion and charity for the millions who have been forced to leave their homelands because of war, poverty or famine.

His first trip as pope, in 2013, was to Lampedusa, the island off Italy that in recent decades has become the entry point to Europe for countless migrants crossing the Mediterranean. There, he denounced the “globalization of indifference” to their plight.

He has since relentlessly denounced human trafficking and called for safe migration routes, and has said repeatedly that rejecting migrants is a grave sin. Last month, speaking to his last general audience before the trip to Asia and the Pacific, Francis told those present in St. Peter’s Square, “It needs to be said clearly: There are those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants, and this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a grave sin.”

Francis has put caring for migrants and opposing abortion on equal footing, saying in a 2018 document that both were holy pursuits.

It is also not the first time Francis inserted himself into a U.S. presidential race. In 2016, during the Republican primary, Francis suggested that Trump was “not Christian” because of his campaign promises to deport more immigrants and to force Mexico to pay for a wall along the border.

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said at the time, returning to Rome from Mexico on the papal plane.

On another in-flight news conference, he weighed in on whether Communion should be given to politicians like President Joe Biden who support abortion rights, saying that he had never denied Communion to anyone.

On Friday’s flight, Francis also talked about the Vatican’s relationship to China. He has sought to improve relations with the country but still has not visited it, despite reaching a groundbreaking and sharply criticized deal on the appointment of bishops that is set to be renewed in October. Francis has continued his outreach to Asia, completing on Friday his tour of about a dozen countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

“China is a promise and a hope for the church,” he said Friday, adding that he was happy about the discussions they were having with the country. “I would love to visit China.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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