John L. Allen Jr.

Crux Now

John L. Allen Jr. was the editor of Crux, specializing in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church, and the Rome correspondent for Angelus from 2016 to 2025.

Latest by John L. Allen Jr.

Voices

Might Francis dust off ‘infernal canonization’ for his Argentine bête noire?

John L. Allen Jr.|Aug 23, 2023|5 Min Read

Young people cheer as Pope Francis arrives in the popemobile for the World Youth Day Stations of the Cross with young people at Eduardo VII Park in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 4, 2023. (CNS/Lola Gomez)

Voices

World Youth Day, Catholic politics don’t always mix

John L. Allen Jr.|Aug 14, 2023|5 Min Read

Cardinal Louis Sako celebrates a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 4, 2013. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Voices

Iraqi patriarch joins long, distinguished history of bishops in exile

John L. Allen Jr.|Aug 1, 2023|5 Min Read

Voices

Pope’s new crop of cardinals is chock full of possible successors

John L. Allen Jr.|Jul 11, 2023|5 Min Read

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on the day of the 11th anniversary of his enthronement, in Moscow in this Feb. 1, 2020, file photo.(CNS/Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters)

Voices

Russian Orthodox Church shows itself to be Putin’s most reliable ally

John L. Allen Jr.|Jul 5, 2023|5 Min Read

Vatican

In appointment of his personal theologian, Francis has given Vatican his Ratzinger

John L. Allen Jr.|Jul 2, 2023|7 Min Read

Vatican

Debuting this fall: Not a Synod of Bishops, but a Synod with Bishops

John L. Allen Jr.|Jun 22, 2023|5 Min Read

“The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara,” by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, 1800-1882, German. This representation departs significantly from the historical record of how Mortara was taken – no clergy were present, for example. (Wikimedia Commons)

Voices

Advocates of reform over baptized Jewish child hoping for ‘Netflix Effect’

John L. Allen Jr.|Jun 21, 2023|5 Min Read

World

Before Trump, Berlusconi forced Catholics to weigh the political and the personal

John L. Allen Jr.|Jun 13, 2023|5 Min Read

Pope Francis during a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal in 2017. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Voices

Pope’s looming Portugal trip a high-wire act on a big stage

John L. Allen Jr.|Jun 12, 2023|5 Min Read

Pope Francis meets with members of the preparatory commission for the general assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican March 16. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Voices

Pope’s Synod of Bishops likely to bring home that demography is destiny

John L. Allen Jr.|May 24, 2023|5 Min Read

Voices

Pope’s gesture with Copts marks recognition of an ‘ecumenism of blood’

John L. Allen Jr.|May 11, 2023|5 Min Read