Rome — Pope Francis weighed in Friday on the options for voters in 2024 US presidential electionindicating to reporters on the papal plane as he returned from a marathon trip in Asia that both Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, are, in his view, “anti-life.”
Asked by CBS News what he would advise a Catholic voter forced to choose between one candidate who supports abortion rights and one who has said he would have 11 million migrants deportedsaid the Pope: “They are both against life – the one who throws away migrants and the one who kills children.”
The Pope addressed the topics, both of which were prominent in the presidential election debate between Harris and Trump on Tuesday night, speaking to reporters on a flight from Singapore to Jakarta, returning to Rome from a 12-day, 20,000-mile tour of Asia and the Pacific.
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Asked if there were any circumstances in which it would be morally permissible for a Catholic to vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, Francis said in considering political morality, “you have to vote.”
“You have to choose the lesser of two evils,” he said. “Who is the lesser of two evils, that lady or that gentleman, I know not.”
Pope Francis said American Catholic voters must examine their conscience and make that decision before going to the polls.
“It should be clear that it is a sin to send migrants away, to deny migrants the opportunity to work, to not welcome migrants. It is serious,” the Pope said.
Francis said immigration was a right that goes back to biblical times, noting that it was repeated in the Bible’s Old Testament that the people of Israel had a duty “to take care of the orphan, the widow and the stranger — that is, the migrant.”
Francis also reiterated the Catholic Church’s position that abortion is murder.
“Whether you like the word or not, it’s a kill,” he said. “It is murder, and we should be clear about this.”