(OSV News) — John Allen, the editor-in-chief of Crux whose decades-long career in journalism defined him as one of the authoritative voices on the Vatican and the Catholic Church, died in Rome 22 January, after battling cancer since 2022. He was 61.
He is survived by his wife, Elise Ann Allen, Crux’s senior Vatican correspondent.
In February 2025, Mr. Allen updated readers on his cancer diagnosis and asked them to keep him in their prayers.
“Never in my life have I believed more in the power of intercessory prayer than I do right now,” he said.
Several months later, in a second update, he chronicled his treatment for stomach cancer and noted that “without the tireless daily support of my wife, Elise Allen, I’m sure I probably would have imploded.”
He also expressed his gratitude to doctors, friends he regarded as family, and Crux readers for their messages of support and prayers.
“Over the years, I’ve often used the term ‘the Crux family’ to refer to the extended network of people who read our site, who consume our other media, and who interact with our coverage,” he wrote. “I know that formula these days can often be a sort of corporate catchphrase, or a marketing ploy, but I’ve never been more convinced than I am right now that when it comes to Crux, it’s not just words.”
Born in Hays, Kansas, in 1965, Mr. Allen taught journalism and supervised the student-run newspaper at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. Among the students he inspired to pursue journalism was Stacy Meichtry, Paris bureau chief at The Wall Street Journal, who was on the school newspaper staff.
“John would spend long hours with us after school, putting the paper together in time for a weekly deadline,” Mr. Meichtry recalled. “I think this was actually his first taste of journalism as a teacher, which is interesting when you think about the role he would play much later.”
After establishing himself in Rome, Mr. Allen gained prominence in 2000 with the publication of his first major biography of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
Mr. Meichtry recalled that before then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s ascension to the papacy, “it had been decades since anyone covered a conclave.”
“The internet was still in its infancy, so information on how exactly the Catholic Church went about picking a pope was very scarce. John changed all that. His book ‘Conclave’ became a must-read for any journalist, including myself, on how to prepare for a papal death and election,” he told OSV News.
And while Mr. Allen’s deep knowledge of the Vatican’s inner workings made him known as “the guy with his finger on the pulse,” for Mr. Meichtry, “he was a mentor like no other.”
“His knowledge was encyclopedic. He was both brilliant and generous, which is a rare combination. He taught me journalism, but he also taught me about life. I’m going to miss him,” Mr. Meichtry said.
After teaching journalism, Mr. Allen joined the National Catholic Reporter in 1997 and subsequently established its Rome bureau in 2000.
“He was a giant of specialized journalism,” said Marco Carroggio, professor at the School of Church Communications of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. “I think he is going to be a reference for future generations.”
Mr. Carroggio recalled meeting Mr. Allen in 1998. At the time, Mr. Carroggio was handling communications for a conference hosted by Opus Dei and received a call from someone speaking Italian in a heavy American accent.
That call, he said, was the starting point of their nearly three-decades-long friendship.
Mr. Carroggio noted that Mr. Allen was a consistent presence in many conferences in Rome and always interested in “understanding the depth of the debates and understanding the different positions.”
“What caught my attention was that many times, he didn’t publish anything from those conferences. But he broadened his view, so all this made his information and writings form a vision that was nuanced and profound, showing you all the polyhedral sides of reality,” he told OSV News.
That vast understanding of all things Catholic served Mr. Allen well at CNN as a Vatican analyst after the death of Pope John Paul II and the subsequent election of Pope Benedict XVI.
For Delia Gallagher, who worked alongside Mr. Allen at CNN for two decades, the most important thing about Mr. Allen was that he was “a loyal and real friend.”
“One thing I do think about John, in terms of his life, is that he was somebody who really found his vocation and really lived it with a passion, and that was, I think, a gift to him and a gift to Catholic journalism: to really love what you do and do it with joy and, therefore, be completely above any kind of competition or jealousy,” Ms. Gallagher told OSV News.
His passion for journalism, she added, was “inspiring” and what people saw “in John was that he really loved what he did 100 percent and felt called to it.”
“That’s why he was great at it. He was the best at explaining things in a fair way. Even in private conversations, he really didn’t show any signs of bias. He was very, very fair, always taking both sides, looking at it from different angles, and certainly always speaking to people,” Ms. Gallagher said.
Mr. Allen left NCR in 2014 and joined The Boston Globe, where he launched Crux. Two years later, after The Boston Globe ended its sponsorship of Crux, Mr. Allen relaunched the news site independently, becoming its president and editor-in-chief.
Ms. Gallagher, who was with Mr. Allen when he announced Crux’s relaunch in 2016 at the Pontifical North American College, said it was “a standout moment.”
“He was so proud; it was such a big moment for him,” she recalled. “I remember asking him once what his dream vision of his professional life would be. And he said it was starting Crux, because he could give younger journalists a launching pad. For him, that was his legacy.”
Mr. Allen continued to appear on CNN as a Vatican analyst throughout the papacies of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, and in 2025, he served as a CBS News contributor during the election of Pope Leo XIV.
Throughout his career, he was a highly sought-after public speaker, speaking at conferences and events around the globe. He wrote 11 books on the Vatican and the Catholic Church, ranging in topics from the Benedict and Francis papacies to the persecution of Christians around the world.
“John’s interest in all things Catholic included his interest in the world of Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and how the Eastern churches persisted, and flourished, despite their roots in inhospitable environments such as the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, India and Eastern Europe,” said Michael J. La Civita, CNEWA’s communications and marketing director.
“I first got to know John in Rome, circa 2002, over a bowl of rigatoni a la vodka,” Mr. La Civita said, noting how he relished every morsel of the pasta and the sauce that clung to it, willingly. “I instantly liked him, and despite the tough questioning that followed over several glasses of limoncello, I trusted him as someone who understood the contradictions and compromises our churches sometimes have to make in such inhospitable political climates.”
In April 2025, during a reception in Rome, CNEWA’s president, Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, presented Mr. Allen with its Faith & Culture Award “for his maddening ability to report on all things Catholic in the pursuit of truth, clarity and accountability.”
Prior to the award reception on the rooftop of the Kolbe Hotel overlooking the Roman Forum, Mr. Allen participated in a briefing of selected members of “Vaticanisti.” Moderated by CNEWA trustee Amanda Bowman, the briefing included Mr. Allen and his wife; Cindy Wooden, then-Rome bureau chief of Catholic News Service; William Cash, former editor of the Catholic Herald in London and veteran journalist; and The Wall Street Journal’s Margherita Stancati.
The discussion focused on the changing priorities of the church in a volatile world and how the pastoral vision of Pope Francis had positioned the conclave differently from the last. Mr. La Civita recalled that the discussion “concluded with John announcing, ‘One thing is for sure, we will not have an American pope!’ ”
“Well, we all know what happened just a few weeks later with the election of the American Cardinal Robert Prevost, and John and Elise and I had a few laughs over that, despite his deteriorating health.
“I have no doubts John has been welcomed to paradise with the words, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant,’ ” Mr. La Civita concluded.
Rest in peace, John.
CNEWA staff contributed to this report.