In April, Busted Halo ministries celebrated its 25th birthday with a show in front of a live audience in New York City! As part of the festivities, Father Dave welcomes NBC veteran journalist Anne Thompson to discuss covering religious affairs in the last quarter century.
Anne shares her earliest stories that created an intersection between faith and her career. “It actually started in one of the darkest moments for the Church, which was during the sex abuse crisis that was in Boston. I’m from Boston, and my mom came to me and she said, ‘I know the head of Catholic Charities in Boston and their donations were taking a big hit because of the scandal.’ I thought that’s a story, because of the support they give to the neediest people in the city,” Anne says. “I did that story, and that started things off. For me, my faith has always been a very private thing; I’m a practicing Catholic, but I never broadcast it.”
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They discuss her favorite memories covering Pope Francis’ papacy, including five trips on the papal plane. “I always had the feeling that every time he saw me, [he thought] Oh, there’s that American reporter again. She has a laundry list of people she wants me to pray for,” Anne jokes, but shares a poignant moment where he prayed with her. “We were on the way to South Korea…A couple of days before, one of my dear friend’s son Hudson was a newborn with heart troubles, and he needed a heart transplant. They had tried everything, and they couldn’t get a heart. I said to send me Hudson’s picture, and I’d have Pope Francis pray for him. So [on the plane] Pope Francis comes back, he puts his hand over my iPhone, and I explain to him Hudson’s situation. He prays for Hudson – Two days later, he got a heart.”
Anne shares how her previous experience on apostolic journeys has informed her coverage of current events with Pope Leo XIV. “There was this contretemps between President Trump and Pope Leo. Pope Leo then gave a speech in Cameroon, which was based on the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” People were like, ‘he’s responding to the President,’ and I’m like, No…papal speeches are written weeks before they get on the plane.”
“They don’t necessarily change them because somebody somewhere thousands of miles away made a comment. With Pope Francis, you always had to be on your toes because he’d go off script all the time…Pope Leo doesn’t do that. He’s very deliberate and very much follows the script,” Anne says. “It helps us understand that [Pope Leo] is not an American responding to an American politician. He’s the leader of the Catholic Church and represents 1.4 billion people. Peace is something he speaks about all the time, and so did Francis, Benedict, and John Paul II. I remember when Pope John Paul II called for a day of fasting and prayer in hopes that the Iraq War wouldn’t start.”
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Anne reflects on journalism today amidst a changing media landscape. “I have had one goal my entire career, and that is every day I go in to find out the truth. I try to get as close to the truth as humanly possible by whatever my deadline is,” Anne begins. “What bothers me now when I look at media now, is it seems people are choosing sides; the truth doesn’t take sides. The truth does not care if you’re from a red state or a blue state, you’re Republican, a Democrat or you’re an independent. The truth is the truth.”
“When I think about how we get past [these divisions], I think of Pope Francis and what we see with Pope Leo. They both talk about a culture of encounter, and media has allowed us to stop encountering people that we disagree with,” Anne continues. “We don’t have to listen to anybody else, because we can be in our own echo chambers. That’s dangerous for society and for democracy; we have to encounter each other. That’s how we move forward.”
