Slamming both presidential candidates in the United States-Donald Trump and Kamala Harris-for what he called "anti-life policies" on abortion and migration, Pope Francis advised American Catholics to vote for the "lesser evil" in the US elections.
"Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants or the one who kills babies," Francis said on Friday.
"Both are against life," Francis said as he addressed reporters aboard his plane returning to Rome after a 12-day tour of Asia.
Francis stressed he is not an American and would not be voting.
Neither Republican candidate Donald Trump nor Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was mentioned by name.
But Francis was more forthright when asked to weigh in on the stances of the two major candidates on some of the most contentious issues of the US presidential election -- abortion and immigration -- in which the Catholic Church has huge stakes.
Francis has made the cause of migrants a flagship issue of his pontificate and has voiced strong and regular opinions on it.
While strongly advocating for the church teaching that condemns abortion, Francis hasn't made much of an effort to focus on church doctrine as compared with his predecessors.
He spoke of the right of migration as described in scripture, and anyone who does not heed the call from the Bible to welcome the stranger commits a "grave sin."
He was frank talking 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.
This isn't 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 at the U.S.-Mexican border.
Francis declared then that anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants "is not Christian".
Francis recalled that he said Mass at the US-Mexico border and "there were so many shoes of the migrants who ended up badly there".
The US bishops conference, on the other hand, has branded abortion the "preeminent priority" for American Catholics in its published voter advice. Harris has been a strong defender of abortion rights.
US President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, agrees with Harris on the issue of abortion rights, an stance that has led some Catholic bishops and other conservatives to call for him to be barred from receiving Communion.
After meeting with Francis in person at the Vatican last fall, Biden left with the pope telling him he was a "good Catholic" and should continue receiving Communion.
Francis says on previous occasions that some US bishops who want to deny Communion to Biden over his support for abortion rights should be pastors, not politicians.
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