Pope Francis says Kamala Harris and Donald Trump "both against life"

Rome — Pope Francis weighed in Friday on the options for voters in the 2024 U.S. presidential election , indicating to reporters on the papal plane as he returned from a marathon Asia trip that both Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, are, in his opinion, "against life."

Asked by CBS News what he would advise a Catholic voter forced to choose between a candidate who backs abortion rights and one who has said he would have 11 million migrants deported , the pope said: "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 featured prominently in the presidential debate between Harris and Trump on Tuesday night, as he spoke with journalists on a flight from Singapore to Jakarta, making his way back to Rome from a 12-day, 20,000 mile tour of Asia and the Pacific .

Asked whether there were any circumstances under which it would be morally permissible for a Catholic to vote for a candidate who does support abortion rights, Francis said when considering political morality, "one must vote."

"One must choose the lesser of two evils," he said. "Who is the lesser of two evils, that lady or that gentleman, I do not know."

Pope Francis said American Catholic voters would have to examine their conscience and make that decision before going to the polls.

"It should be clear that sending migrants away, denying migrants the capacity to work, to not welcome migrants, it is a sin. It is grave," the pope said.

Francis said immigration was a right that dates back to biblical times, and noted that it was repeated in the Old Testament of the Bible 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 is a killing," he said. "It is an assassination, and on this we should be clear."