Pope Francis on Sunday wrapped up a weekend trip to Belgium, where he faced some of the strongest criticism yet levied during one of his foreign trips.

Francis was urged in Belgium by both King Philippe and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to do more to help abuse survivors in unusually forceful language for a papal foreign trip, always a carefully choreographed event.

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