A tremendous loss
John L. Allen Jr. died on January 22, 2026, after a long battle with cancer. He was a true pillar of Catholic journalism, especially in the English-speaking world, and his influence is impossible to overstate. For years, he offered readers a clear, levelheaded view of the Church as he understood it, grounded in his years of experience covering the Church and the friendships and contacts he made along the way. Even if you didn’t agree with everything he wrote, anyone who read John’s work regularly recognized that he was committed to presenting the facts objectively and representing all sides on every issue fairly and comprehensively. (And he was usually right.)
Although I never collaborated with John professionally, he and his beloved wife Elise welcomed me into their Rome apartment during two different trips, in 2022 and 2024, and were extraordinarily gracious hosts. One moment from the first visit has stayed with me. I was a bit overwhelmed (even star-struck) over the experience. Over dinner, John asked me where I was from, and he mentioned his brief time living in Washington, DC, and he commented that one of the few long-term effects of the experience was learning all the words to “Hail to the Redskins” (the fight song for the NFL team now known as the Washington Commanders). Unprompted, he then counted to three and the two of us serenaded the other attendees (and probably his neighbors in the apartment building) with a full-throated baritone duet.
My lasting memory of John during my second visit, which took place only a month or two after the Allens had celebrated Christmas in Mongolia (funny the details we remember), was a bit of advice that I admittedly haven’t kept very well. He suggested that I be a little less free with offering my personal opinions on social media. Still, from time to time I have held back because I heard his voice in the back of my head. I can thank John’s wisdom for preventing me from pressing “enter” and going viral for all the wrong reasons on multiple occasions.
Where Peter Is, like other online platforms in the Catholic media space owe John an enormous debt of gratitude. When Crux was canceled by The Boston Globe in early 2016 after less than two years of collaboration, John took a risk and relaunched it as an independent outlet. That decision helped create space for professional and responsible Catholic reporting and commentary at a time when the Church desperately needed it. John’s death is a huge loss. The Church still needs voices like Crux, and hopefully Crux can continue providing a responsible voice on Catholic matters in the public square.
We are grateful to publish the below reflection by Carlos X. Colorado, and grateful for the witness John Allen leaves behind: a journalist committed to the truth, unwilling to reduce anyone to their worst moment, and determined to help the Church understand herself more clearly. On behalf of the entire WPI team, I wish to express my condolences to John’s family, friends, and colleagues — especially to Elise. May he rest in peace.
Mike Lewis
A journalist who thought and felt with the Church
St. Oscar Romero’s episcopal motto was Sentir con la Iglesia (“to feel/sense/hear with the Church”), a line from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises that denotes adherence to Church teaching. Romero later lived this principle in an almost literal sense, relying on ecclesial channels to vet information and trusting Church institutions over outside partisan voices.
John L. Allen Jr., the longtime National Catholic Reporter journalist and later founding editor of Crux, who passed away today, lived Romero’s spirit of sentir con la Iglesia through his journalistic vocation. At a time when the life of the Church was besmirched by scandal and blotted by division and polarization, Allen’s approach was perhaps best summarized by his personal maxim: “Never reduce someone to their worst moment.”
Like Romero — who cultivated friendships with conservative leaders such as Opus Dei founder St. Josemaría Escrivá and progressive figures like World Youth Day promoter and Pope Francis mentor Bl. Eduardo Pironio — Allen kept close watch on the diverse and far-flung sectors of the Catholic world.
Allen, who moved easily among cardinals and officials of the Vatican Curia, seemed just as comfortable as an on-air commentator on CNN as he once had been as a print journalist at the National Catholic Reporter and, later, briefly, at The Boston Globe. He was marked throughout by an open-minded and magnanimous outlook.
I can attest to his generosity personally. Allen gave me the opportunity to publish several pieces at Crux, even though my background as a freelance blogger might have given a more exacting editor pause. He was willing to evaluate my work on its merits and, in doing so, amplify an outsider’s voice within the Catholic media landscape.
That same openness characterized Allen’s reporting more broadly. As a result, he was one of the few Catholic journalists who continued to cover the status of Romero’s canonization cause during years when much of the Catholic world seemed to forget the Salvadoran martyr. When I began my Romero beatification blog, Super Martyrio, in the early 2000s, much of the foundational information I relied upon came from a handful of pieces Allen had published at NCR, including his reporting on the long-stalled cause that would eventually culminate in Romero’s canonization in 2018.
Before deciding to attend law school, I was a journalism major, and it is from that shared professional affinity that I can say this with confidence: John Allen was a consummate journalist — a journo’s journo.
Like Saint Romero — who edited various Church journals and hosted shows on diocesan radio — Allen gave both insiders and outsiders an equal chance to be heard.
Carlos X. Colorado
Image: Courtesy of John Allen’s X account (https://x.com/JohnLAllenJr/status/1033251690827395072)
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
Carlos X. Colorado is an attorney and blogger from Southern California. He tracked the canonization of St. Oscar Romero in his «Super Martyrio» blog from 2006-2018. He is a member of the board of the St. Thomas More Society of Orange County, a Catholic lawyer group.
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