“A lot of Catholic Christians will weigh issues like the death penalty, like abortion, like religious freedom, but also issues like immigration reform and access to healthcare, clean water like in Flint, food stamps and food support for those who are less fortunate,” Diller said.

Immigration has become one of the more divisive issues of this campaign. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has proposed a hardline immigration plan including mass deportations and the construction of a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border. The proposal was first introduced as part of Trump’s campaign introduction speech in June 2015.

“I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively,” Trump said last June. “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.” 

When asked about Trump in an interview on Feb. 18, Pope Francis took a stand against the candidate’s immigration plan.

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said.

Diller said that Francis has spent his 2016 sending a message to the world by advocating for the rights of immigrants across the world, including a notable visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Magee thinks that conservative Christians and Catholics who support Trump may be swayed by the Pope’s speech. If they are, he thinks they might instead support Ted Cruz.

However, on Feb. 23, Cruz came out in support of building a wall, further muddling the options for conservative Catholics and Evangelicals who do not support such immigration measures.

Complicating the issue for Catholics, however, are the Church’s pro-life views on abortion. Those Catholic voters who prioritize the abortion issue are drawn to the pro-life views of Republican candidates like Trump and Cruz.

Ultimately, Catholics are forced to compromise one or another of their beliefs on election day, Diller said. It is ultimately up to the individual which of their beliefs holds the most weight, she said. Catholics then must find ways to restore their conscience after contradicting their own values.

“Once you make an evaluation, you have to remember what you’re leaving behind,” Diller said. “Say, for example, you vote for a candidate in a party that is pro-life. But you realize that there are peace and justice issues that you’re leaving behind, that there are immigration issues that you’re leaving behind, that there are probably healthcare and food and poverty issues that you’re leaving behind. So that means, if you made that assessment, and you vote in that way, you as a Christian need to make up for that loss by being involved in feeding the hungry. Being involved in being politically active for immigration issues. You can still be active for issues when you vote the other way.”

Though voting as a Catholic often involves choosing the lesser of two evils, Diller said that political divisions within the religion are a reminder to focus on issues rather than fighting with those who vote differently.

“We are a Church full of sinners. Even Pope Francis is a sinner...That’s not an excuse, but it is a reminder that we can’t judge....That doesn’t mean we can’t challenge one another. So when we talk about politics in particular, we can challenge people to remember the poor, remember the weak, remember the immigrant, remember the hungry, remember those who are not yet born, remember those who are on death row.”