在教皇的飞机上-乘坐教皇专机(美联社)教皇方济各周五，他抨击两位美国总统候选人在堕胎和移民问题上的反生命政策，并建议美国天主教徒在即将到来的美国选举中选择他们认为“较小的邪恶”。
“无论是驱逐移民还是杀害婴儿，这两者都是反对生命的，”弗朗西斯说。
阿根廷耶稣会士被要求在一次空中新闻发布会上为美国天主教选民提供咨询当他结束亚洲四国之行飞回罗马时。弗朗西斯强调，他不是美国人，不会投票。
共和党候选人唐纳德·川普和民主党候选人卡玛拉·哈里斯都没有被点名。
但当被问及对美国大选中的两个热点问题——堕胎和移民——的立场时，方济各还是直言不讳地表达了自己的观点，这也是天主教会的主要关切。
方济各将移民的困境作为其任期内的优先事项，并强调和频繁地谈论这一问题。虽然方济各强烈支持禁止堕胎的教会教义，但他没有像他的前任那样强调教会教义。
方济各说，移民是《圣经》中描述的一项权利，任何人如果不遵循《圣经》中欢迎陌生人的号召，就是犯了“严重的罪”。
他在谈到堕胎时也直言不讳。“堕胎就是杀死一个人。你可能喜欢或不喜欢这个词，但它是杀人，”他说。“我们必须清楚地看到这一点。”
当被问及选民在投票时应该做些什么时，方济各回忆起投票是公民的义务。
“人们应该投票，选择较小的邪恶，”他说。“谁是小恶，女人还是男人?我不知道。
“每个人都应该凭良心思考和行动，”他说。
哈里斯和特朗普的竞选团队没有立即回应美联社的置评请求。
美国总统乔·拜登是一名虔诚的天主教徒，他和哈里斯一样强烈支持堕胎权，这一立场促使一些天主教主教和其他保守派呼吁拒绝让他参加圣餐。
2021年10月在梵蒂冈亲自会见方济各后，拜登离开时说，教皇告诉他，他是一个“好天主教徒”，应该继续接受圣餐。
方济各以前在一些场合被问及一些美国主教因拜登支持堕胎权而拒绝与他交流时，他说主教应该是牧师，而不是政治家。
周五的新闻发布会并不是方济各第一次参与美国大选。在2016年大选前夕，方济各被问及特朗普在美墨边境修建隔离墙的计划。方济各当时宣称，任何修建隔离墙将移民拒之门外的人“都不是基督徒”。
在周五的回应中，方济各回忆说，他在美墨边境庆祝弥撒，“有太多移民的鞋子在那里落得很惨。”
特朗普承诺大规模驱逐出境，就像他在第一个白宫所做的那样当他的雄心与这项事业的法律、金融和政治现实之间存在巨大差距时，他提出了收购要约。
美国主教会议在其公布的选民建议中称堕胎是美国天主教徒的“首要任务”。哈里斯强烈地捍卫堕胎权利并强调支持恢复联邦堕胎权。
在他的评论中，教皇补充说:“关于堕胎，科学表明，从受孕开始一个月，一个人的所有器官都已经在那里了，所有的器官。堕胎是在杀人。不管你喜不喜欢这个词，这就是杀戮。你不能说教堂关闭了，因为它不允许堕胎。教会不允许堕胎，因为这是在杀人。这是谋杀。”
然而，细胞在怀孕的最初几周才开始发育成器官。例如，心脏组织在头两个月开始形成——最初是一根管子，后来才演变成定义心脏的四个心室。美国妇产科学院表示，到13周时，所有主要器官都已形成。
在其他评论中，弗朗西斯:
——否认了法国媒体关于他将前往巴黎参加12月修复后的巴黎圣母院落成典礼的报道，直截了当地说他不会去那里。但他证实，他想去加那利群岛，以突出移民的困境。
——平息了有关他最终可能会在今年晚些时候返回阿根廷的新猜测，他说他想去，但一切都还没有决定。他补充道:“有各种各样的事情需要首先解决。”自2013年选举他为教皇的秘密会议以来，方济各一直没有回家。
——宣称中国是“承诺和希望”希望有一天能去参观。
—称为性虐待“恶魔”并对最近揭露的法国传奇神父皮埃尔神父遇袭事件进行了调查。
Pope slams both US presidential candidates over what he calls anti-life policies
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE --ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) —Pope Francison Friday slammed both U.S. presidential candidates for what he called anti-life policies on abortion and migration, and he advised American Catholics to choose who they think is the “lesser evil” in the upcoming U.S. elections.
“Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ Francis said.
The Argentine Jesuit was asked to provide counsel to American Catholic voters during an airborne news conferencewhile he flew back to Rome from his four-nation tour through Asia. Francis stressed that he is not an American and would not be voting.
Neither 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 hot-button issues in the U.S. election — abortion and migration — that are also of major concern to the Catholic Church.
Francis 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 emphasized church doctrine as much as his predecessors.
Francis 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 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 it’s killing,” he said. “We have to see this clearly.”
Asked 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 don’t know.
“Everyone in their conscience should think and do it,” he said.
The Harris and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
U.S. President Joe Biden, an observant Catholic, shares Harris’ strong support for abortion rights, a stance that prompted some Catholic bishops and other conservatives to call for him to be denied access to Communion.
After meeting Francis in person at the Vatican in October 2021, Biden came away saying the pope told him he was a “good Catholic” and should continue receiving Communion.
Francis, asked on previous occasions about some U.S. bishops who want to deny Communion to Biden over his support for abortion rights, has said bishops should be pastors, not politicians.
Friday's news conference was not 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.-Mexico border. Francis declared then that anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants “is not Christian.”
In responding Friday, Francis recalled that he celebrated Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border and “there were so many shoes of the migrants who ended up badly there.”
Trump pledgesmassive deportations, just as he did in his first White Housebid, when there was a vast gulf between his ambitions and the legal, financial and political realities of such an undertaking.
The U.S. bishops conference, for its part, has called abortion the “preeminent priority” for American Catholics in its published voter advice. Harris has stronglydefended abortion rights and has emphasized supportfor reinstating a federal right to abortion.
In 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 can’t say the church is closed because it does not allow abortion. The church does not allow abortion because it’s killing. It is murder.”
However, cells are only beginning the process of developing into organs in the earliest weeks of pregnancy. 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 heart. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that by 13 weeks, all major organs have formed.
In 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 flat-out 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 pope.
— declared that China was“a promise and a hope”for the Catholic Church and hoped to one day visit.
— calledsexual abuse “demonic”and weighed on the latest revelations of assault against a legendary French priest, Abbe Pierre.
