{"id":2427826,"date":"2025-04-26T14:11:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T18:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/peter-laffin-pope-francis-was-not-left-or-right-but-connected-god-down-to-us-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T14:13:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T18:13:59","slug":"peter-laffin-pope-francis-was-not-left-or-right-but-connected-god-down-to-us-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/peter-laffin-pope-francis-was-not-left-or-right-but-connected-god-down-to-us-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Laffin: Pope Francis \u2018was not left or right\u2019 but connected \u2018God down to us\u2019 &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpeter-laffin-pope-francis-was-not-left-or-right-but-connected-god-down-to-us-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2427826&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Peter Laffin, writing for the *Washington Examiner*, discussed the late Pope Francis in the context of American political ideologies following the pontiff&#8217;s funeral in Vatican City. Laffin emphasized that Pope Francis did not conform to the traditional left-right political spectrum but rather aimed to connect humanity with God, portraying a view that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">transcends political labels<\/a>. He remarked on how attempts to categorize Francis within American political paradigms often lead to confusion. Laffin noted that Francis was critical of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mike-kelly-same-people-criticizing-trump-peddled-russia-collusion-hoax\/\" title=\"Mike Kelly: Same People Criticizing ... Peddled Russia Collusion Hoax\">political leaders<\/a> from both sides of the aisle,including President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Even though Francis did not liberalize the Church as progressives hoped, he also faced backlash from conservatives, notably regarding the suppression of the Latin Mass. Laffin highlighted Francis&#8217;s legacy as one of mercy, citing the pope&#8217;s daily calls to the Catholic parish in Gaza during the recent conflict, which he saw as a significant part of his compassionate outreach.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Peter Laffin: Pope Francis &lsquo;was not left or right&rsquo; but connected &lsquo;God down to us&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2104430\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>&lsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/peter-laffin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Peter Laffi\">Peter Laffin<\/a> suggested the late <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pope-francis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Peter Laffi\">Pope Francis<\/a> did not fit into the American left-right political paradigm after funeral services for Francis were held in Vatican City Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Francis&rsquo;s funeral mass <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3392482\/trump-biden-zelensky-pope-francis-funeral-takeaways\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"gathered world leaders\">gathered world leaders<\/a>, including President Donald Trump, to St. Peter&rsquo;s Square to honor the late pontiff commonly referred to as &ldquo;the people&rsquo;s Pope.&rdquo; Laffin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/program\/washington-journal\/peter-laffin-on-pope-francis-legacy-and-political-impact\/659108\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"joined\">joined<\/a> C-SPAN&rsquo;s<em> Washington Journal<\/em> Saturday morning shortly after the funeral mass ended at the Vatican was asked about the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> editorial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/editorials\/3386619\/pope-francis-defied-easy-political-categorization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"gathered world leaders\">&ldquo;Pope Francis defied easy political categorization.&rdquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3392566\/florida-lawmakers-considering-property-tax-ballot-initiatives\/\">Florida lawmakers considering property tax ballot initiatives<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3392482\/trump-biden-zelensky-pope-francis-funeral-takeaways\/\">Trump and Biden sit rows apart, president meets with Zelensky: Pope Francis funeral takeaways<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3392495\/pennsylvania-doge-maybe\/\">A Pennsylvania DOGE? Maybe<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 640px; max-height: 360px; min-width: 320px; min-height: 180px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/share.grabien.com\/share.php?id=2907572&amp;userid=11311&amp;loginid=9421&amp;playercolor=%23000000&amp;playersize=auto&amp;code=88a6a0c906dd285d618d7502689d6c29\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0px;\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He discussed how while Americans tend to want to &ldquo;superimpose our political paradigm onto things outside the bounds of our politics, we end up being very confused, especially by Pope Francis.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Catholic world view, and I think this was espoused by Pope Francis, beautifully, like all of our great popes, was not left or right, it was up. Connecting from us to God, from God down to us. And when you try to see the world that way, when you attempt to put together a worldview in that way &mdash; not using our ideological constructs &mdash; but using the core principles of the faith. Yeah, your worldview can seem a little scattershot, especially to the American viewer,&rdquo; Laffin said.<\/p>\n<p>He also mentioned how Francis was &ldquo;not shy about admonishing political leaders on both sides of the American spectrum,&rdquo; referring to instances he admonished former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Joe Biden<\/a> and Trump.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about a <em>Politico<\/em> article calling Francis&rsquo;s legacy &ldquo;complex,&rdquo; Laffin said that Francis did not liberalize the church as much as progressives would have hoped, but he also upset conservatives in the church by attempting to suppress the Latin Mass. He noted the Latin Mass is particularly popular with conservative Catholics in the U.S.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 640px; max-height: 360px; min-width: 320px; min-height: 180px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/share.grabien.com\/share.php?id=2907578&amp;userid=11311&amp;loginid=9421&amp;playercolor=%23000000&amp;playersize=auto&amp;code=197797263946ff96a7179d5ec47dcb5d\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0px;\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a pocket of people who maybe attempted to wield that mass as something &mdash; some part of a resistance against the Francis papacy and and now, I think was right that that was rebuked, but the suppression of it in the diocese across America, yeah, it caused, it caused a lot of consternation,&rdquo; Laffin said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/editorials\/3386619\/pope-francis-defied-easy-political-categorization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"POPE FRANCIS DEFIED EASY POLITICAL CATEGORIZATION\">EDITORIAL: POPE FRANCIS DEFIED EASY POLITICAL CATEGORIZATION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When asked about Francis&rsquo;s accomplishments, Laffin reiterated a common theme in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3322925\/pope-francis-leader-catholic-church-dead-at-88\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"obituaries\">obituaries<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pope-francis-consecrates-russia-ukraine-to-immaculate-heart-of-mary-drawing-on-prophecy-on-russia-world-war-from-our-lady-of-fatima\/\" title=\"... Consecrates Russia, Ukraine To \u2018Immaculate Heart Of Mary,\u2019 Drawing On Prophecy On Russia, World War From Our Lady Of Fatima\">late pope<\/a> in that he was seen as &ldquo;a pope of mercy.&rdquo; He specifically recalled how Francis would call the Catholic parish in Gaza every day since the war between Hamas and Israel began following the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hamas-chief-ismail-haniyeh-killed-in-iran-washington-examiner-2\/\" title=\"Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran - Washington Examiner\">terrorist organization&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s Oct. 7 massacre against Israel.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think those quiet extensions of mercy, something just so quintessentially Catholic and Christ-like about, and I think I think that that&rsquo;s probably going to be what we remember most as his accomplishment,&rdquo; Laffin said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2104430\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2104430\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Peter Laffin: Pope Francis transcended left and right, connecting us to God<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2427827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/peter-laffin-cspan-april-2025.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[54130,34207,10248,54131],"class_list":["post-2427826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-peter-laffin","tag-pope-francis","tag-religion","tag-theology-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/peter-laffin-cspan-april-2025.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2427830,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427826\/revisions\/2427830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2427827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}