On this episode of the Catholic Leaders Podcast, we welcome Anne Thompson, chief environmental affairs correspondent with NBC News, for a thoughtful conversation about journalism, leadership and resilience. With hosts Kim Smolik and Kerry Alys Robinson, Anne draws on her decades of reporting to reflect on finding God’s presence in ordinary people, the power of forgiveness, and the leaders who shaped her career. From 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina to the Oklahoma City bombing and papal elections — Anne’s career informs her powerful perspective on the human spirit, the mission of journalism, and her own faith. This episode concludes with a spotlight on Catholic Charities Boston, as president and CEO Kelley Tuthill shares how her journalism background continues to inform her leadership and reflects on what gives her hope.
What role does faith play in bearing witness to suffering? How do you remain hopeful while covering humanity’s darkest moments? And what qualities define authentic leadership?
Anne Thompson shares personal stories from her remarkable career in journalism and discusses how faith has sustained her through tragedy, why forgiveness is one of humanity’s greatest gifts, and why listening is essential to good leadership. She also offers wisdom for aspiring journalists, reflects on the importance of mentorship, and recounts unforgettable moments — including baking chocolate chip cookies for Pope Francis and how she broke the story on Pope Leo’s favorite baseball team.
Join hosts Kim Smolik and Kerry Alys Robinson as they welcome Anne and listen to her take on “the first draft of history.”
Special Spotlight: The episode also highlights the leadership of Kelley Tuthill, president and CEO of Catholic Charities Boston, who reflects on the common thread between her career in journalism and her service to Catholic Charities.
Chief Environmental Affairs Correspondent, NBC News
Anne Thompson covers the Catholic Church and environmental and economic issues, with her reports appearing across all platforms of NBC News including “NBC Nightly News,” “Today,” MSNBC and NBCNews.com.
She first joined NBC News in 1997 as a national correspondent. She shared two Gerald Loeb Awards for business journalism: the 2004 Television Short Form award for "The Jobless Recovery," and the 2006 Television Deadline award for "The Katrina Effect." From March 2005–April 2007 she was Chief Financial Correspondent, covering issues such as the economic impact of Hurricane Katrina and Martha Stewart’s trial. In April 2007 she became chief environmental correspondent and has covered many economic and environmental issues, particularly the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. She also covers the Catholic Church, including the late Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV.
Education: B.A. from University of Notre Dame
Connect with Anne: LinkedIn | X
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President and CEO, Catholic Charities Boston
Kelley Tuthill, Ed.D., was appointed president and CEO of Catholic Charities Boston in 2024. In her role, she develops the vision and strategic plan for the $50 million agency and works closely with leaders and policymakers across key organizations to advance Catholic Charities Boston’s mission to welcome and serve all those in need with dignity and respect.
A seasoned fundraiser, her team has achieved remarkable success under her leadership in securing major gifts from private donors and foundations including doubling the revenue from both the annual gala and Ash Wednesday collection. She has led the agency’s emergency response to humanitarian and social service crises, modernized the agency’s brand identity and website, and oversees efforts to revitalize agency multi-service centers and expand affordable housing opportunities.
Before her current role, Tuthill acted as chief operating officer for Catholic Charities Boston. She also previously served as Regis College’s first vice president of marketing and communications. Tuthill also worked for more than two decades as a news anchor and reporter. She won awards for her multiplatform coverage of the Whitey Bulger trial and was part of a National Headliner and Emmy awards-winning team that covered the Boston Marathon bombing.
A breast cancer survivor, Tuthill poignantly shared her journey and became a champion of local and national breast cancer organizations, raising both money and awareness. Tuthill received the 2017 Jimmy Award, which honors celebrities who have committed themselves to the mission of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.
Tuthill received her doctorate in higher education leadership from Regis College, a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame.
She served for 25 years on the Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters Advisory Council and the Gallivan Journalism Board. She was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in 2024. She received an honorary doctorate in 2025 from Merrimack College.
Education: B.A. from University of Notre Dame | M.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism | Ed.D. from Regis College
Connect with Kelley: LinkedIn
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Kerry Alys Robinson (KAR)
Anne, it is so wonderful to have you on the Catholic Leaders podcast. We have admired your career over so many years and marvel at all of the stories you've covered and the people you have met. How has your faith been influenced by the people you have met and the stories you have covered?
Anne Thompson (AT)
You know, Kerry and Kim, I think I'm lucky because many times I see God in the people that I cover.
I see them in their face. I can remember the first time I ever realized that was as an affiliate reporter in Detroit, and I was flying over to Rome when Cardinal Adam Maida was being elevated to Cardinal of Detroit. And I can remember meeting him and looking at him and talking to him and I thought, I can see the joy of God in his face, which is a really wonderful thing.
And then you see in other people and things that people do, the extraordinary lengths that they go to to help each other, especially in times of crisis. I saw that in Katrina. I saw that in the BP oil spill. I have seen it in, unfortunately, the number of school shootings I've covered, 9/11, any number of tragedies that have befallen us as a society.
And the thing that always amazes me is the resilience of the human spirit and people's ability to rise to the occasion. And in fact, my favorite people to interview are not celebrities or famous people. It's people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances and do things that they just do from the goodness of their heart, and inspire all the rest of us.
So I've been very lucky in that sense.
Kim Smolik (KS)
Ann, what has bearing witness to these kinds of tragedies and the suffering, what is it asked of you, and how do you maintain your center of gravity and take care of yourself, being a witness to all of that?
AT
I think it's something that all journalists struggle with, who cover tragedies. It's very difficult. And you build up walls, because it's really the only way you get through covering something as inconceivable as 9/11 or the massacre at Columbine High School. You just, you build up walls. But I think I've always thought that in, in that case, my faith really helps me get through it.
One of the first questions you always ask is, why would God let this happen? I remember, I remember after the Sandy Hook School shooting, which happened right before Christmas. That's all I could think of is, my God, this is the season of Advent. Why in the world would this happen? And the thing you realize in that I think your faith helps you, is that it's not God letting something happen.
He's not a magician. These are human beings making choices — some of them just horrific. Because we believe we are people of free will. And that you hope when you go to comfort someone and you end up interviewing families of victims, that you can bring some comfort. Not necessarily religious comfort, but human comfort. To know that even in this terrible moment of their lives that they are loved and they are supported.
And while it is inconceivable and I've never found a good answer for any of these tragedies, you have to help people go forward. And I think that's what you try to do, but it's — it's very difficult. I mean, I'll be honest with you, after 9/11, I was down there when the towers collapsed. I had nightmares for probably 3 or 4 months afterwards, and would wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. I always joked I could have done a conference call at 4 a.m., probably, with everybody else who had been down there because you just couldn't sleep through the night. It does have an impact on you, but when that happens, I always think my faith helps me get through it.
KS
This makes me think about the theme of forgiveness. And I read that you had said that one of the people that you wish that you could have interviewed was Nelson Mandela and were quite struck by his capacity for forgiveness. And I think about you being in all of these really tragic environments and even what role forgiveness must have in your life, being in those environments. But you also said that you would love to make a documentary on forgiveness. And so I'm wondering, is that still on your mind?
And if it is, what are the questions you would ask, the stories you would look for, the people you might invite?
AT
I have always wanted to make a documentary on forgiveness, Kim, because I think it is the most extraordinary gift that one human being can give to another. Saint John Paul II said, there is no justice without forgiveness, and I think you can see that in the life of Nelson Mandela. And I just always wanted to talk to him about how you got over that anger that, you know, you were, you were jailed for essentially the color of your skin for something you had no control over. And they persecuted you and your family — people who looked like you and held you in a form of, it was to me — it's a form of slavery.
And how you rose above that and how you found something beyond your own personal anger. And I, I will forever rue the day that I didn't get to ask him those questions. I wanted to hear that from him. And I have not gone any further on trying to make a documentary of forgiveness.
But I do think, it is something that we all need to really think about, especially, I think when you look at these polarized times that we're living in and people seem to be so angry and so willing to vilify the other side and not listen to people.
And I think that's because there is a lack of forgiveness in our societies. People make mistakes. We all make mistakes if we look at our lives. And you would hope that in your — when you do make a mistake, that whoever you have wronged, is a big enough person to forgive you, and that's, that's a great gift if they do. And if you've experienced forgiveness in your life, you know how big a gift that is.
And I think I look at our society now and I think, do we ever think about forgiveness? I mean, we're all also ready to be mad at whoever does whatever transgression that offends us, but do we ever think about the other side? And I think if we thought a little more of the other side, that maybe we wouldn't be so quick to anger, so quick to judge.
KAR
That is so beautiful. Ann, I had a spiritual director who once told me we may never understand why such terrible, heartbreaking, cruel things happen in the world, but we will always have the opportunity to ask ourselves, what does this mean for me? How does this make me more loving, more forgiving, more faithful?
And it occurs to me, the moments where I see polarization overcome is in a tragedy. In a climate-related disaster, for example, where everyone is rushing to help, and they don't stop to ask, you know, are you voting for the right person? It's — it's just like an instinctive human desire to be of help. So, as you're covering these terrible tragedies and really unimaginable events, you must also see those people who are rushing in to help and whose response is so powerful.
Can you say a little more about that?
AT
You know, Kerry, as you were speaking, I thought back to the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. And again, I was an affiliate reporter at that point for our affiliate, NBC's affiliate in Detroit. And we were down in Oklahoma City doing, you know, hours and hours and hours of coverage about what had happened there.
And I remember one day, someone from Oklahoma City came with a pitcher of sweet tea and brought it to our satellite truck and just, they said, we know you're working long hours. We just want to offer you some refreshment. This is a total stranger. I had no — they didn't know me. Lord knows they didn't watch me or watch my crew.
And it was the kindest, sweetest thing that in this moment of tragedy and, you know, an incident that left such a huge wound in that city, they thought of someone else other than themselves. I mean, I do see that all the time. And it doesn't always make the news, but the kindness of people is really extraordinary.
And it's what keeps you going in times where, you know, the unfathomable happens and unexplainable happens. But you see people rise to the occasion and it's very moving when it happens.
KS
I love thinking about the spaces I never get to be in, like a newsroom. And I think a lot of us are really curious about what the experience of being in that environment is.
I have to imagine it has changed so dramatically over the course of your career. Could you give us a window into your experience and how it's changed over time, how you've had to adapt, and what that means for how you pick stories and how you engage?
AT
Yeah. I think that more than anything, technology has had the biggest influence on this. There was a time where you had to be in the newsroom, because that's how you found out what was going on. Now, because we learned after Covid, that we didn't have to be all together, that we could work remotely.
That's greatly affected how we do the news. When it comes to the basic news, I don't think that much has changed, other than changes that have been wrought by technology. We still try to find out what happened on a given day. If you're given a story, let's say on health care, you try to get as close to the truth on that issue as you can by your deadline.
Now, I am a perfectionist in an inherently imperfect business because there is a deadline. I only have so many hours in a day to figure out what's going on. And you are limited. You're limited by that. But you keep trying to meet that goal. I do not believe that it is a journalist's job to advocate for a certain point of view. Your job is to advocate for the truth, to give people facts and information, and then they can make their decisions about how they want to live their lives. That hasn't changed. I've never been in a newsroom or been on a story where somebody said to me, you need to include this person and exclude that person because we think this person's opinion is more important than this other person.
I've never been told by corporate overlords or some of the myths that exist that I should slant a story this way or that. The biggest obstacle I have in telling a story is time. When I report a story, I have enough information that honestly, I could probably fill up all 22 minutes of Nightly News with the information I have gathered.
I have to digest that into 1:30 or 1:45. So, time is always my biggest hurdle. But again, I think there are all these sort of preconceived notions about how news is done. And I think part of it is, we have hurt ourselves. When cable news decided to take a political stance, when cable channels decided to do that, it hurt the overall business of journalism — personally, I think — because then everybody looked at that and thought, well, you're all, you know, you're all, you're all biased. And what has happened, and I think this is a great disservice to society at large, is that now people can pick and choose what they want to hear. And if you only pick and choose people who think like you, you create your own echo chamber and you don't learn anything.
I learn things by hearing different points of view and talking to people who I normally wouldn't talk to. When I write a story, it's not about my point of view. It's about what are the facts that I have gathered? What's the information I know? What do I know for sure? You know, Tom Brokaw taught me that early on in my career.
He said, you know, the first question you always want to ask yourself is, what do I know? And it still is the first question I ask myself when I sit down to write my story: what do I know for sure? What are the facts? And that gives you a pretty clear path when you do what you do.
KAR
Many years ago, when I was working at the Catholic Center at Yale University, we had this wonderful series where we would bring famous people to campus to talk about their personal life of faith, and one of my favorite guests was Cokie Roberts, and she was just spectacular. Of course, there was a big, big gathering, but then she spent the day in small — smaller groups over meals with students and particularly aspiring journalists and particularly young women.
And I was really struck by how she engaged with them, how she served as a role model, how she encouraged them. She spoke about being mentored herself and her own role as a mentor. Where has mentorship shown up in your life? You mentioned Tom Brokaw. Is that part of your — your legacy?
AT
So I'll tell you a wonderful Cokie Roberts story, who I just adored.
She was one of the founding mothers, if you will, of NPR, and she was from Louisiana. And when I was down covering the BP oil spill, one day I was checking my email and there was an email from Cokie Roberts. I had met Cokie once. It was — I remember it because I was so amazed to meet her — it was covering the 2000 presidential campaign and we were in Iowa for the Iowa primaries. We were in the same hotel, and she came up and spoke to me. And so then, now, ten years later, she has sent me this email, and she just praised my work and thanked me for spending all those weeks — I was down in, Venice, Louisiana, for five months.
And it was — it was at a time, as she had no idea that I really needed, you know, somebody to make me feel good, creature out in the wilds of Louisiana, they can't plug the leaking oil well, and everything's a mess. And — and it meant so much. And that's the kind of person Cokie was.
And I, you know, when somebody does that for you, then you want to do that for somebody else. You want to help inspire or make sure that when someone is doing something good that they know that. And it plays such an important role. Tom Brokaw was a huge mentor of mine. He has three daughters, and so he knew how hard it was for women to — how much extra work they had to do to — succeed. And so he was very kind to me and Andrea Mitchell and Kelly O'Donnell and Lisa Myers and lots of women, who worked at NBC News. He made sure that we had a presence on the show that beared his name, NBC Nightly News.
And he was — he did it by design, and I think, and I've gone to him every time I had a big problem at NBC, I would go to Tom and talk to him about what was going on, and he always gave me really sage advice. And I think you can see that from, you know, “report what you know,” and, and in so many other ways.
And I'm so blessed. But it is so important for women in particular, to reach their hand back, to help other women come up. There was a time in my business very early on in my career where there was, like, one job. It was the woman's job. It was, that — that was it. And they would, I can remember being in a newsroom and there was a job that it opened up.
A woman had it. And all the guys in the newsroom started singing Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent, because this job had opened up. And I thought, that's ridiculous. And I didn't, you know, I just shook my head. But the point being, that women can help each other and anybody who is in a minority position should not look at people who look like them or — as competition. They’re allies. And the more of you that are in any one organization, the better it is for all of you.
You never want to be — and I'm sure we've all been it — the one in the room. That is the worst place to be. You need — you want to have other people there. And then when other people like you were in the room, you want to be allies to them.
I remember reading and I can't remember who the people are, who the women were, but who worked in the Obama administration. And they said they realized that they needed to support each other in meetings, because if a woman said something, it was left hanging out there and nobody joined in. It was awkward. And so, as I remember it, don't quote me verbatim on it, but that's what you need to do.
You need to be allies, so nobody's left hanging by themselves in one of those situations. And so that's what I've tried to do. I'm not sure how successful I've been, but I've always tried to help, I like to think I've tried to help other women, and give them guidance about what was going on, either at sometimes at NBC, but also outside, talking to young women who want to go into this business and, what they want to achieve or even if they don't want to go into this business, you know, how they can position themselves to succeed.
And that's one of the great joys in life. I think somehow we all must be teachers, secret teachers when you scratch our surface, because it really is a joy to do that.
KS
I'm so grateful for this conversation. When you are mentoring younger women who want to follow in your footsteps, that want to follow the path of journalism, what are the pieces of advice or guidance that you think are essential for today?
AT
I tell this to young women and young men: Just work on the story. All the rest of it will take care of itself. I work in a very subjective business. There will be someone who looks at you and thinks you're the greatest thing that ever happened to television journalism. And there may be five people who, like, every time you come on screen, turn off the channel. There's nothing you can do about that.
To me, the only way you get those five people who don't want to watch you, to watch you, is to make sure your journalism is absolutely solid, that you're telling them something so compelling they absolutely have to watch you. And that's what you can control is the information that you give and the way you convey that information.
And so I tell them to focus on that, because it's easy to focus on the other things, the clothes you wear, how you style your hair, your makeup, all this other stuff, which is certainly important in the crazy business that I'm in. But more important — and what will last? Your face will age, you know, you'll have a million bad hair days, of which I've had more than a million, like 2 million. We will wear clothes — my mother would call me and like, don't ever wear that blouse again. You know, you will make those mistakes. But, the journalism, being able to get a story, being able to tell a story — writing is so important, and it's often the forgotten art in journalism, but that will help you have a long and fulfilling career, I think. It's certainly to me, that's my secret weapon as to why I've done this for as long as I've done this is, that I have the ability to write.
KAR
Can we ask you about both covering Pope Francis and being present when Pope Leo was introduced to the world? First, do you have a favorite Pope Francis story?
AT
Oh, I have so many. One of my, one of my favorite stories about him is, we were flying to — I was, I've been on the papal plane five times — I think we were going to Mexico in 2016. The trip before, which was the trip to Africa, somebody had taken his picture when he was in New York and put it on chocolate chip cookies and asked me, can you deliver these to the Pope? Sure. I swear to God, every time he looked at me on the papal plane, he’s like, there is this American girl who's got 17 people for me to bless, and she's going to give me something. Anyway, when I opened the box, he was a couple of people ahead of me, and they were very aromatic, these cookies. His head spun around, you know, because he could smell them. So it's very clear to me that he had a sweet tooth. So when we go to Mexico, I'm thinking, I don't know, people give him all kinds of things on papal trips. They give — gave him an Emmy. You know, they give him empanadas from Buenos Aires.
I have nothing to give Pope Francis. But the one thing I bake that is fairly good are chocolate chip cookies. So I thought, well, I can make him some chocolate chip cookies. So I made the chocolate chip cookies here in New York. I put them in a Tupperware container. I put fresh bread in them because that keeps them fresh.
Bought a basket at Bed, Bath and Beyond and cellophane and got over to Rome, fixed it all up, got on the plane, and Jim Yardley, who was then the bureau chief for the New York Times, and I are sitting next to each other. And even with the cellophane, you can smell these cookies. He's like, Annie, can't I have a cookie?
It's like, don't worry, I'm going to give them to the Pope. He'll — they always come back. The empanadas come back, all the food always comes back. And he's like, okay. And so I give him — I gave him the cookies, and he was so happy, and it was just lovely. And so we go, the trip goes on and we're waiting for the cookies to come back, and we're waiting for the cookies to come back.
The cookies never come back. But one of his Argentinean friends came back and said, Annie, where’d you get those cookies? Where do you — because they thought I bought them in Rome. I said, I made them, and they were all surprised!
But my — another favorite. I spoke about how I always had pictures for the Pope to bless. One time, one of my cameramen, Kevin Hahn, his son Hudson, needed a heart transplant.
Hudson was an infant, and they were having a really hard time finding a donor, as you can imagine. And so I said to Kevin, send me Hudson's picture and I'll ask the Pope to pray for him. And so we’re on the trip, I showed him the picture of Hudson. I tell him the story and he prays, puts his hand on my phone and prays over the picture of Hudson.
And three days later, there was a heart for Hudson. So that shows you, I think, the power of prayer.
KAR
Extraordinary story. Oh my gosh, I'm finding myself wanting your cookies too. Ann, when you were with Catholic Charities USA for our annual gathering in Puerto Rico, you shared with those assembled a fabulous story about being on the scene when Pope Leo was announced. Would you mind sharing that for our listeners?
AT
Yeah. It was you know, that's one of the great things about my job is you get to write the first draft of history, and that certainly is what happened when Pope Leo was elected. We were on the roof of the Augustinianum. Luckily — it’s said, better be lucky than good.
And NBC had rented out the roof of the Augustinianum, which was where the Augustinians are, and where Cardinal Prevost had been as head of the order. Chris White, who worked for NCR, he'd given me a list of all the papal candidates’ names in Latin because I didn't take Latin in school.
And so George Weigel, who's sitting to my left, is like, Annie, you don't need that. You've got me. That's, it's true, I do have George. But if we, you know, we're listening to things through an earpiece, and it's hard to hear, and we were just having real trouble with our IFBs. And so they come out and announce “habemus papam” and then they read the name, and all I could hear was Robertum Franciscus. And I knew the only Robertum Franciscus on my list was Robert Francis Prevost. And I'm, like, trying to whisper to Lester because he can't hear either. I’m like, it's the American, the American. Oh, gosh, and so we — I, I don't know about you guys, but I was so stunned.
Even though I had heard his name spoken about in the run up to the conclave, and, I just never thought an American — we'd all been told an American could never become pope. It would be too much power in one country, was the way the thinking goes. And yet, here is this man who, as I said, was in many ways the most un-American American because of the 20 years he had spent in Peru, the years he had spent in Rome.
He was seen more as a global, a citizen of the world, if you will, than a citizen of our country, even though he very much is. And so it was stunning. So because he's from Chicago and because I had worked in Chicago — was the first place I was stationed at for NBC News — I know that the most important question in Chicago is Cubs or White Sox. So, Joe Farrell, who is — who at that time was vicar general of the Augustinians, and is a very good friend of the now-pope, I went to him. I said, you know, Cubs or White Sox?
And, Father Joe said, well, I'll text him. And I mean, he had been pope for maybe all of 45 minutes, maybe 90 minutes. I didn't know, did they take his phone and smash it? You know, the way they do with the fisherman's ring? None of us knew. But he said, I'll text him.
And I'm like, sure you want to text the Pope. That's great. So I'm writing my story and Father Joe comes by and he's like, I've got an answer. And I looked at him. And he's like, Cubs or Sox? And he showed me the phone and it just said, S.O.X. Sox. I know there's a picture of me, and Father Joe, and I'm like, I was — I don't think I've ever been more surprised by anything in my career than the fact that the Pope texted back right after he been elected, to tell us he's a White Sox fan.
People want to talk about the Latin Mass or ordination of women or any number of things that are, you know, the major issues in the Catholic Church, of which all of which need attention. But when you hear something like that, it's like suddenly the Pope becomes that much more relatable. And I love the video when he's going through Saint Peter's Square, right after the Cubs had been eliminated from the playoffs and somebody yells, go Cubs! And he turns around and goes, you lost! I thought, that is so, that is so classic. It's just, those are wonderful moments. And I think moments that make covering him really, really special.
KS
We love stories like that. I really could sit here and listen to an entire hour just on stories about the Popes, but, as we come to the end of our time together, it's a good segue into just thinking about leaders and leaders that you have drawn inspiration from.
And so we always like to end our podcast with the question: who is one leader — and if you have more than one, it's okay — who is one leader whom you've drawn inspiration from and try to emulate in your own work?
AT
Well, I don't know if I've tried to emulate him, but in covering Pope Francis, one of the things that I was most amazed at was his ability and willingness to listen.
And I think that was most demonstrated when he went to Peru and Chile. It was, I was covering the Pyeongchang Olympics, so I wasn't on that trip. But the trip was a disaster, in large part because of the abuse scandal that had happened in Chile. And the Cardinals had told him that this was all made up, that it didn't happen.
And he took the word of his Cardinals, and he goes to Chile and he is very much — he's very critical of the abuse victims who were campaigning and saying that, you know, how could they say these things about these priests? And he gets back to Rome and realizes that something is not right. The vehemence of the opposition to his position, something isn't right.
So he orders an investigation. And the investigation happens, and he realizes that the victims were telling the truth, that he had not been getting the true story from his leadership in Chile. And what's most amazing is that there were four men who had, who were all abuse victims, who led the protests in Chile, and one who is named Juan Carlos Cruz.
And he invites all four of them over to the Vatican for a week in April. And he and Juan Carlos, the Pope and Juan Carlos, strike up a friendship. And it's a friendship that was born of pain and anger, but became something much more. And, talk about the beauty of forgiveness, I mean, Juan Carlos could have walked away with his anger and his fury at Pope Francis for not believing them to begin with.
And he forgave, and he would shake his head that the idea that he forgave a pope, but that's what he did. And he did that because Pope Francis listened and was willing to change his mind, which is something you don't see many leaders do. And I think that's such a courageous thing. And I've thought about it as I covered him and it — it's, I think about it in so many different ways.
And again, this is I think if you watch the movie Spotlight, when you see, Marty Baron, who is the outsider who comes to be the editor of the Boston Globe, and he suggests to them, his reporters, you know, well, take another look at this. Because he's hearing it in a different way. The importance of listening and always making sure that your own preconceived notions are not keeping you from hearing and seeing the truth.
And that's, to me, the sign of a great leader, somebody who is willing to listen and reevaluate his or her own positions because in the face of evidence. And then to make that change, it really is extraordinary. And I think it's a wonderful lesson for everyone in the world, regardless of your faith.
But it's an important lesson. We all got to see it in real time. And that's the lesson I take away from his papacy.
KAR
Ann, I'm so grateful that you referenced that story in particular. Juan Carlos is a friend of Kim's and of mine, and just a wonderful person. And that story that we are ending this conversation with, echoes back to the beginning, because it's also a story of deep forgiveness and redemption.
Mentioning listening — you are an exceptional listener, and that is reflected in the stories that you bring to all of us and to the world. And we could not be more grateful for your time and for your example, for your faith and for your dedication. And thank you for being our guest today.
AT
It has been an honor, and thank you for all the good work you do in this world.
KAR
Today we are spotlighting a Catholic Charities agency whose leader, like our episode guest Anne Thompson, is an award-winning journalist.
Kelly Tuthill built a distinguished career as a news anchor and reporter in Boston before joining Regis College to lead its marketing and communications efforts.
Kelly first served Catholic Charities Boston as Chief Operating Officer before her appointment as President and CEO in 2024.
Kelly, so good to be with you.
Your background is in journalism, similar to our guest on this episode, Anne Thompson.
How did cutting your teeth in such a challenging field prepare you for the role of leading Catholic Charities Boston?
Kelly Tuthill (KT)
I had someone recently say how unusual it was, to go from journalism to leading Catholic Charities. And I said in response, well, I guess it depends why you went into journalism.
And for me, it was always to make a difference, to give a voice to those who don't typically have their voices heard, to make sure people have information to make good decisions in their lives and to keep things that some people want to keep secret and make them public.
So, there are a lot of reasons why I went into journalism that naturally, I think, helped me prepare for this challenging role — both challenging roles, by the way.
But, you know, I think one is to stay calm, right? Often things don't go as you expect. And so I think it's to stay calm.
And in journalism, and at Catholic Charities, it's to rely on your team. We have people with such amazing experience: listen to them, support them, work collaboratively.
And then the third thing would be to work collaboratively with other people doing the work you do, because we can't do this alone, we don't want to step on each other's toes. So again, it's teamwork.
And I think journalism relies on that. And a lot of times journalists build off each other's work. In nonprofit, we do that too. We don't want to say, well, our shelter's the best, our food pantry's it — No, we want to say, hey, you're open on Saturday. We'll make sure we have Friday covered.
We're serving others. That's the point here. And I think in journalism, we're serving the public and in Catholic Charities, we're doing the exact same thing.
KAR
I have so enjoyed working with you. You are a model collaborator with Catholic Charities USA and with your counterparts throughout the Catholic Charities ecosystem, and we are very, very grateful for your leadership.
What is giving you hope as a leader working in the Catholic Charities network in this moment?
KT
I've been accused of being an optimist and guilty as charged. I approach life that way, right? I try to think the best of people, assume the best. I try to figure, today might be a hard day, tomorrow will be better. So it's not hard for me to find hope, and I think we need to spread it.
So, a couple of things. One, I'll get right back at you, Kerry. You give us hope, right? You as a leader, you bring so much joy and optimism yourself. And you have a good plan for how we move forward in this moment. And you're using your voice in ways that lift us all and more importantly, the clients we serve. So thank you for that.
But the connection with Catholic Charities USA has been very powerful and hopeful. And we keep meeting and we have, since day one when I got to Catholic Charities, to support each other. And our convenings help us figure out how not to feel we have to reinvent the wheel every time, but we learn from each other, including how to get funding when maybe it seems there's no funding to be found.
So, I think it's our network gives me a lot of hope. I think it's people of goodwill who have come forward and say, I'm seeing what's happening out there. How can I help? And they're doing it in so many awesome ways. People aren't just giving money, which is of course always helpful, particularly when we see funding cut, but they're saying, well, you must not have enough money to maybe do a project you want to do. Can I fund that project, including some not glamorous ones that will help improve our efficiency and our effectiveness. So, I'm so grateful for that.
And then of course, it's our clients who give us hope. If we feel, oh, it's a hard moment, I don't know how I'm gonna get through it, we look to them and we see people, who life has kicked them down at each turn and made it inaccessible to get the support they need, maybe caused sickness that was hard to overcome because they didn't have the insurance or access to medical care that they needed, or children that might have special needs — so many things that our clients endure every day that are obstacles to leading the life they need to lead and the dreams they have for themselves and their kids.
We see their resilience, we're empowered by it, and we're inspired by it. We're here for them. And they give us the greatest example anyone could ever ask for. That's hope.
KAR
Well, the poor and vulnerable people in the greater Boston area are so well served by your leadership and by that of your colleagues. I am grateful to you and here's to spreading hope together.
KT
Thank you, Kerry.