Pope Francis has doubled down on his traditional views on abortion and women during his in-flight press conference coming home from Belgium.

I always talk about the dignity of women,’ he said on his flight back to Rome. ‘An abortion is a homicide,’ he said, adding, ‘The doctors who carry this out are hitmen.’ He also spoke of the ‘responsibility to help the abused and to take care of them

Pope Francis has wrapped up a weekend trip to Belgium by praising victims and demanding that sexually abusive clergy be judged, after facing strong criticism that the Catholic Church was failing to face up to the problem.