Returning from his long apostolic journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore, Francis did not disappoint the expectations of accredited journalists and spoke “papal papal” on the flight to Rome Fiumicino. Answering questions, the Pontiff spoke mainly about geopolitics, ranging from the United States to China without forgetting the conflict in the Middle East.
He reserved the most significant words for the American electoral campaign, rejecting both candidates as “against life”. On the one hand, as expected, the rejection of the hated Donald Trump who already in 2016 had defined as “not Christian” for the promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Then in 2020, the arm wrestling with his administration up to the diplomatic incident for the refusal to receive the then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a visit to Rome. The Pope does not like the tycoon for the anti-migrant policies that he would like to implement and which he recently relaunched in the televised debate with his rival Kamala Harris. On the plane, Bergoglio did not hide it and said that “sending migrants away, not letting them develop, not letting them have a life is a bad thing” and added that “whoever does not protect the migrant is missing, it is a sin” therefore he is “also committing a sin against the life of those people”.
On the other hand, however, the Pope did not spare criticism towards Kamala Harristhe Democratic candidate who is basing her electoral campaign on the defense of the alleged right to abortion and who was also the first vice president to visit a Planned Parenthood clinic. “Sending a child away from the mother’s breast is murder, because there is life there. We must speak clearly on these things,” said the Pontiff, continuing to answer the question on the US presidential elections and clearly referring to Harris. The Pope spoke clear and unequivocal words in defense of the right to life from the mother’s womb. “Science says that one month after conception all the organs of the human being are there, all of them. Performing an abortion is killing a human being. Don’t you like the word? But it is killing,” thundered the Pope. Defending his perennial teaching, Bergoglio added: “The Church is not closed because it does not allow abortion. The Church does not allow abortion because killing is murder. And on this we must say things clearly.”
So the Pope would not feel like suggesting to a Catholic voter to vote for Trump because of his positions on migrants and would similarly discourage voting for Harris in light of her support for abortion. “Both are against life,” he continued, speaking of the two American candidates, finally adding that “in political morality, it is generally said that not voting is bad, it is not good: you have to vote. And you have to choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil, that Lady or that Gentleman? I don’t know, everyone in conscience thinks and does this.”
If the situation of the world’s greatest power does not seem to satisfy the South American Pontiffthings are going much better in the second power: China. “China is an illusion for me, I would like to visit it,” said – enthusiastically – the Pontiff. Bergoglio continued his praise of the Dragon: “It is a great country, I admire China, I respect China. It is a country with a thousand-year-old culture. With an extraordinary capacity for dialogue, for understanding each other that goes beyond the different democratic systems it has had.” Francis did not miss the opportunity to express his satisfaction with the agreement on the appointment of bishops between the Holy See and Beijing, saying that on this dossier “we are working with good will.” He is not worried about Chinese Catholics and said that “China is a promise and a hope for the Church.”
Among other notable statements on the return flight to Rome, those about Abbé Pierrefounder of the Emmaus Community who died in 2007 and about whom accusations of sexual assault by several women have recently emerged. The Pope defined him as “a man who has done so much good, but he is also a sinner. And we must speak clearly about these things, not hide.” He also made a statement on the Gaza crisis, regarding which the Pope declared that he does not believe that “steps are being taken to make peace.”