The Pope has told American Catholics to “choose the lesser evil” as he criticised both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Pope Francis launched the surprise intervention in the US election on his flight from Singapore to Rome on Friday.
He was critical of vice president Harris over her stance supporting abortion rights, claiming the procedure is an “assassination”, and said that Mr Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants was a “grave” sin.
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Then, he called on American Catholics to “choose the lesser evil” when they headed to the polls in November.
He did not elaborate further.
The Pope was speaking after a 12-day tour across Southeast Asia and Oceania.
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In his remarks, he did not name Ms Harris or Mr Trump, and instead referred specifically to their policies and their genders – but he did say Catholics should vote.
The 87-year-old said: “Not voting is ugly. It is not good. You must vote.
“You must choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don’t know.”
He added: “Whether it is the one who is chasing away migrants or the one who that kills children. Both are against life.”
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Ms Harris has vowed to sign any legislation passed by Congress that would restore national protections for abortion access, which were struck down by the Supreme Court two years ago.
Meanwhile, Trump has said he will crack down on illegal immigration and deport millions of immigrants already in the US.
He has also not ruled out building detention camps for undocumented immigrants.
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American Catholics number roughly 52 million across the US and are an important voter group.
In some battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as many as one in five adults are Catholic.
The Pope is usually careful about weighing in on political elections but has been frequently critical of abortion – which Catholicism sharply forbids.
But he has also previously criticised Mr Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric – during the 2016 election he said Mr Trump was “not Christian”.
