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 The pontiff injected himself into the U.S. 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 U.S. 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
percent of the U.S. population identifies as Catholic.
"I agree with the pope as far as being a true Christian, you accept
everybody," said Paul Nappi, 65, outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel in
Brooklyn, New York. "I happen to like Trump but I don't know if he's
literally about building walls or that's just a figure of speech."
 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 Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President
Barack Obama.
"It's very treacherous for the media to ask those questions to the
pope because they were questions inspired by the media itself," said
Catalina Carmona, 31, a lawyer visiting New York from Colombia. "He
was put in a difficult situation and he said what a leader in his
position would be able to say."
'ANALOGY'
Francis never directly criticized 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."
Carol Menkiti, 76, of Somerville, Massachusetts, said of the pope's
remarks: "I felt he was using an analogy that's often used. I love
the pope."
"I don't think he comments on politics, but he talks about the human
condition," she said after attending Mass at St. Paul's Church in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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 U.S. election.
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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 Rev. 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 U.S. Catholics in the
voting booth is an open question, but parishioners suggested a muted
impact at best.
While most of those interviewed said they respected the pope's moral
authority, Joe Ruggiero, 70, thought Francis sometimes "gets a
little carried away" with what he characterized as a "basically
socialist" point of view.
"Catholics believe the pope is infallible in issues of faith, not
issues of politics," Ruggiero said outside the Cathedral of the Holy
Cross in Boston.
Nappi said the pope's influence over Catholics would not necessarily
be the sole determining factor in how Catholics vote.
"I think anytime the pope says something, of course it'll have an
affect on Catholic voters," he said. "Me personally, I like to weigh
all the issues before I make a definitive opinion one way or
another."
(Additional reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Writing by Frank
McGurty; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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