John L Allen Jr

John L. Allen Jr. is NCR Senior Correspondent. To receive an e-mail alert every time Allen's column is posted, follow this link to the sign-up page.

In 2000, Allen established the Rome office of the National Catholic Reporter. From that position, he broke stories on Rome's response to the American sexual abuse crisis, the Vatican's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the death of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI, and a wide variety of other important Vatican events. In the summer of 2006, Allen returned to the United States, allowing him to expand his coverage of both the American church and the global Catholic scene, while continuing to keep his eye on Rome. Allen is the author of seven books on the Catholic Church, including All the Pope's Men, The Rise of Benedict XVI, Opus Dei, and A People of Hope (all from Doubleday), and serves as senior Vatican analyst for CNN. His weekly Internet column, formerly "The Word from Rome" and rechristened as "All Things Catholic," has a wide international readership. Allen's work is followed across the usual ideological divides in the church, and he speaks widely on Catholic affairs in the United States and around the world.