Calling both major US presidential candidates “against life”, Pope Francis on Friday advised Catholic voters in the United States to choose the “lesser evil” when casting their ballots in the November 5 election. Citing Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Kamala Harris’s support for abortion rights, the Argentine Jesuit said, “Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies.”
The Pope, however, did not refer to Harris or Trump by name in his comments. The pontiff made the rare political comments at a news conference as he wrapped up a 12-day tour through southeast Asia. Francis was asked to provide counsel to American Catholic voters, to which he stressed that he was not an American and would not be voting in the US polls, according to a report by the Associated Press.
However, when asked to weigh in on his positions on abortion and migration — two hot-button issues that are also major concerns to the Catholic Church, the Pope expressed himself in stark terms. He 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 said as per the AP report.
American Catholics reportedly make up 52 million of the 1.4 billion Catholics globally.
Clearing his stance on abortion, he said, “To have an abortion is to kill a human being. You may like the word or not, but it’s killing,”
When asked to advise voters on what to do, he said, “One should vote, and choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil, the woman or the man? I don’t know…Everyone in their conscience should think and do it.”
The Pope’s comments came days after Trump and Harris faced each other for a debate for the first time. The pair was expected to come face to face and talk about their policies one more time before election day, but Trump has said he would not debate Harris again.
