US Catholics voiced support for Pope Francis on Sunday after he criticised Donald Trump’s immigration stance as “not Christian,” but many interviewed said the controversy would not necessarily sour them on the Republican presidential contender.
The pontiff injected himself into the US campaign during a conversation with reporters on his flight home from Mexico on Thursday. In his comments, Francis disparaged Trump’s vow to build a wall along the southern US border to keep out illegal immigrants.
A sampling of opinion from people before and after Sunday Mass suggested that many Catholics saw the pope’s comments as well-intentioned and grounded in a moral worldview. Many said Francis, who has become a champion of inclusion in his three-year tenure as head of the Roman Catholic Church, was right to insist on the humane treatment of all immigrants.
Even so, most of those interviewed in Boston and New York would not rule out voting for Trump based on what Francis said. About 21% of the US population identifies as Catholic.
Many churchgoers said the media unfairly whipped up the controversy to goad the pope and Trump into a fight days before Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary. Trump’s victory there made the billionaire real estate mogul the clear front-runner for his party’s nomination for the November 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.
‘Analogy’
Francis never directly criticised Trump or mentioned him by name when he told reporters: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”
A spokesman for Francis sought on Friday to tone down the controversy, insisting the pontiff was not making a personal attack on Trump or any statement about the US election.
After initially saying it was “disgraceful” for the pope to judge another’s faith in God, the blunt-spoken Trump said Francis was “a nice man” who was probably misinterpreted by the media.
But from the pulpit of St Paul’s, the Reverend James Flavin did not shy away from the issue. In his Sunday sermon, he linked the pope’s remarks about “walls” to many of the social justice themes he has sounded since his papacy began in March 2013.
“The pope denounced a world divided by walls,” Flavin said. “He’s challenging us to change the world through our imitation of Christ.”
How much the pope’s views will influence US Catholics in the voting booth is an open question, but parishioners suggested a muted impact at best.
