Pope slams Harris and Trump on anti-life stances

Aboard the papal plane Pope Francis on Friday slammed both US presidential candidates for what he called antilife policies on abortion and migration and he advised American Catholics to choose who they think is the lesser evil in the upcoming US elections Both are against life be it the one who kicks out migrants or be it the one who kills babies Francis saidThe Argentine Jesuit was asked to provide counsel to American Catholic voters during an airborne news conference while he flew back to Rome from his fournation tour through Asia Francis stressed that he was not an American and would not be votingNeither the Republican candidate Donald Trump nor the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was mentioned by name But Francis nevertheless expressed himself in stark terms when asked to weigh in on their positions on two hotbutton issues in the US election abortion and migration that are also of major concern to the Catholic ChurchFrancis has made the plight of migrants a priority of his pontificate and speaks out emphatically and frequently about it While strongly upholding church teaching forbidding abortion Francis has not emphasised church doctrine as much as his predecessorsFrancis 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 sinHe 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 its killing he said We have to see this clearlyAsked what voters should 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 dont know Everyone in their conscience should think and do it he saidIts not the first time Francis has weighed in on a US election In the runup to the 2016 election Francis was asked about Trumps plan to build a wall at the USMexico border Francis declared then that anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants is not ChristianIn responding Friday Francis recalled that he celebrated Mass at the USMexico border and there were so many shoes of the migrants who ended up badly thereTrump pledges massive deportations just as he did in his first White House bid when there was a vast gulf between his ambitions and the legal financial and political realities of such an undertakingThe 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 and has emphasised support for reinstating a federal right to abortionIn his comments the pope added On abortion science says that a month from conception all the organs of a human being are already there all of them Performing an abortion is killing a human being Whether you like the word or not this is killing You cant say the church is closed because it does not allow abortion The church does not allow abortion because its killing It is murderHowever cells are only beginning the process of developing organs in the earliest weeks of pregnancy The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that by 13 weeks all major organs have formed For example cardiac tissue starts to form in the first two months initially a tube that only later evolves into the four chambers that define a heartIn other comments Francis denied a French media report that he would travel to Paris for the December inauguration of the restored Notre Dame Cathedral saying flatout he would not be there But he confirmed he would like to go to the Canary Islands to highlight the plight of migrants Tamped down renewed speculation that he might finally return to Argentina later this year saying he wants to go but that nothing had been decided He added There are various things to resolve first Francis has not been home since before the 2013 conclave that elected him popeHe declared that China was a promise and a hope for the Catholic Church and hoped to one day visit Called sexual abuse demonic and weighed on the latest revelations of assault against a legendary French priest Abbe PierreThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever