There are two things that Pope Francis’s recent interview with 60 Minutes made clear: He is a complicated figure who cannot be easily boxed into a specific ideology, and the media likes to paint him as someone he is not.

The interview, which was conducted by Norah O’Donnell, is a fascinating window into the thinking of a man who has led the Catholic Church for more than a decade. But it also betrayed how little the media understands about the Catholic Church and seeks to project their desires for a more progressive church onto the pope.

The first clue to Francis’s unique approach to issues was in a question that O’Donnell asked about migration, especially at the southern border of the United States. The pope began his response by joking that the Irish immigrants brought whiskey to the U.S., while the Italians brought the Mafia, before calling an attempt by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to shut down a Catholic Charities house for illegal immigrants “crazy.”

But the pope, who has been labeled a progressive who supports open borders around the world, followed up by saying that deportation was a potentially reasonable response to migration.

“Each immigrant must be received, but after it must be seen how they are to be treated,” the pope said. “Perhaps they must be sent back, I don’t know. Each case must be humanely assessed.”

The pope, in making this statement, effectively restated U.S. asylum law. If an immigrant comes to the southern border and makes an asylum claim, the federal asylum system is charged with determining whether or not the individual qualifies for asylum and can remain in the country. Those who do not qualify are to be deported, especially if they have committed crimes.

Leaving aside the Catholic Charities issue, the pope’s comments are a perfectly reasonable approach to asylum law, and it is the same approach that was in place prior to President Joe Biden’s open border policies. Meanwhile, O’Donnell, in her attempts to solicit a remark favorable to the narrative that Pope Francis is a liberal reformer, failed to mention how the border security infrastructure is so overwhelmed that it is impossible to actually assess asylum claims or even have stability at the border in its current state.

O’Donnell’s wish casting was even more notable when she asked the pope about a document the Vatican released late last year clarifying that people in same-sex relationships are permitted to receive individual blessings.

O’Donnell claimed the pope allowed “Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples,” which she described as a “big change.” This inaccurate characterization was quickly corrected by the pontiff, who said he had done no such thing.

“What I permitted was not to bless the union,” he said. “That cannot be done because it is not the sacrament of marriage. I cannot do that, the Lord made it the way it is. I allowed each person to be blessed. Blessings are for everyone. To bless a homosexual union is contrary to the natural law and the law of the church.”

For whatever Pope Francis’s critics and his would-be cheerleaders in the media may say, he is not the liberal ideologue that he is often made out to be. His views on various issues cannot fit neatly into a conservative or liberal box because they borrow from both and are informed by the teachings of the Catholic Church.

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In the same interview where he endorsed deportations and opposes same-sex marriage, the pope spoke about conservatism, which he described as those who “cling to what they know and do not look beyond,” and added that this is “suicidal,” without providing further elaboration.

But as much as Pope Francis may be called a liberal for his clumsy description of conservatives, as well as other things he has said in the past, his true ideology is far more aligned with the tradition of the Catholic Church.