Thread by @inesanma

A thread on the perils of covering the Catholic Church in Argentina, using my parents home as base.
In the past 5 years, being a journalist at @Crux has allowed me to learn about the situation of the Catholic Church in every continent but Antarctica. (Looking at you @cwwhite212!)

Some of the trips I've made were as one of the journalists traveling on the papal plane. Others, with @Crux's editor, @JohnLAllenJr. But many, like my first trip to Iraq, or Ukraine or Nicaragua, I did on my own. When this was the case, my parents usually found out after the fact

My parents don't really read English, so up until a few months ago, they didn't follow @Crux daily. However, they caught up to the fact that I would usually be in places other than Rome and one of their friends would call them and say "Why on earth is your daughter in Iraq?"

So, when I was in Nigeria covering Boko Haram (cruxnow.com/faith/2015/08/…) I would walk a fine line between sharing parts of my day without actually lying nor revealing any information. The same when I was in Iraq (cruxnow.com/crux-on-nineve…) or Kenya (cruxnow.com/crux-in-kenya/)

When I went to Ukraine back in 2014, on a reporting trip with @Cindy_Wooden and other journos, put together by @borysgudziak, I remember landing back in Rome and sending a note to my dad saying "I loved L'viv."
His response? "Why are you in a country invaded by Russia?"

Yesterday, as I went to San Francisco, Cordoba, to interview Bishop @sbuenanueva, coordinator of the Argentine Pastoral Council for the protection of Minors and vulnerable adults, we all had a reminder as to why I never told them I was in Iraq in 2014 covering the rise of ISIS.

San Francisco is some 150 miles from Rosario, where the family home is. I drove myself there, got to the interview later than expected (there was some heavy fog on the road) and sent a note to the family's WhatsApp group saying "I'm here."
Alas, they never got it. #Techfail

When I left the interview three hours later- lunch included- my family was in full on panic mode. They'd found a way to contact the bishop, my dad was headed to San Francisco, my mother was calling hospitals and my brother HAD CALLED THE MORGUE.

My sister in law, the rational mind in all of this, sent me a note saying "For everyone's health, it's good you don't actually live here, you would send your parents to the grave."

I wonder how things will go when I tell them I'm going to Oran, Salta, on August 6, to do follow up on Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta? (cruxnow.com/church-in-the-…)
Oran is, after all, some 700 miles from Rosario.