John Allen Jr., author and longtime Vatican reporter, dies at 61

John Allen Jr., the prolific author and longtime Vatican reporter hailed for his insightful coverage of the Holy See across multiple pontificates, died on Jan. 22 at 61 years old.

Allen passed away in Rome after a long struggle with cancer, EWTN News confirmed.

Born Jan. 20, 1965, Allen grew up in Hays, Kansas, and received a philosophy degree from Fort Hays State University, after which he obtained a master’s in religious studies from the University of Kansas.

After several years teaching journalism at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles, Allen joined the staff of the National Catholic Reporter, where he worked as a writer and a Vatican correspondent from 1997 to 2014.

In 2014 he joined the Catholic outlet Crux, which launched that year as a project of the Boston Globe. The newspaper transferred ownership of Crux to its staff in 2016, with Allen serving as its editor until his death.

He is survived by his wife, Elise, Crux’s senior Rome correspondent.

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ROME – A funeral Mass was celebrated for John L. Allen Jr. on Monday in Sant’Eugenio basilica in Rome.

The legendary Vatican beat reporter and Church affairs analyst died Thursday, January 22, two days after his 61st birthday, following a lengthy – and by every account heroic – battle with cancer.



The principal celebrant was Father John Wauck, an American priest of Opus Dei and longtime friend of Allen, to whom Wauck had given the Anointing of the Sick only an hour or so before.

Eight priests concelebrated, among them Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the long-serving head of the Vatican press office, Vatican television service, and Vatican Radio.

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