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

A secret papal mission to end a Russian war? It’s happened before

John L. Allen Jr.|May 5, 2023|6 Min Read

Voices

New interview hints pope may hear time’s winged chariot hurrying near

John L. Allen Jr.|Apr 28, 2023|4 Min Read

Pope John Paul II gestures to the crowd during World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. (CNS/Joe Rimkus Jr.)

Voices

Explaining the Vatican’s contrasting reactions to John Paul II polemics

John L. Allen Jr.|Apr 20, 2023|5 Min Read

Vatican

Naples pastor: 'If you don’t know, you don’t have any right to seed doubts'

John L. Allen Jr.|Apr 18, 2023|7 Min Read

Voices

For many Christians around the world, Easter represents a peak of both joy and danger

John L. Allen Jr.|Apr 6, 2023|5 Min Read

Father Hans Zollner, SJ, Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna of Malta, and Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, all members of the organizing committee for a Vatican meeting on the protection of minors in the Church, attend a press conference in 2019. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Vatican

Accountability for lay groups destined to be test of sex abuse reform

John L. Allen Jr.|Apr 3, 2023|5 Min Read

A poster of Chinese President Xi Jinping hangs next to a crucifix on the wall of the house of a Tibetan Catholic in China's Yunnan province in 2018. (CNS/Tyrone Siu, Reuters)

Vatican

Outreach to China runs deep in the Vatican’s diplomatic DNA

John L. Allen Jr.|Mar 27, 2023|5 Min Read

World

Perspective amid polemic over John Paul II and sex abuse

John L. Allen Jr.|Mar 19, 2023|5 Min Read

Pope Francis leads a meeting of his Council of Cardinals at the Vatican Feb. 21, 2022. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Voices

Will pope’s ‘Council of Cardinals 2.0’ finally live up to its promise?

John L. Allen Jr.|Mar 10, 2023|5 Min Read

Voices

Like John Paul II, Francis at the 10-year mark is no pope of little plans

John L. Allen Jr.|Mar 8, 2023|5 Min Read

World

John Paul II’s legacy is alive and well, and living in Kyiv

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

Pope John Paul II greets Cuban President Fidel Castro at the end of Mass in the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana in this Jan. 25, 1998, file photo. Pope Francis wrote a letter to Cuban Catholics to mark 25 years since St. John Paul II visited the country. (CNS photo/Reuters)

Voices

John Paul II’s epic Cuba trip a lesson in both leverage and limits

John L. Allen Jr.|Jan 26, 2023|5 Min Read