Journalist John L. Allen, Jr. to deliver annual Champagnat Lecture

"The Francis Revolution: A New Pope and a New Model of Leadership?"
a lecture by John L. Allen, Jr.
7 p.m., Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Nelly Goletti Theatre, Marist College Student Center
Free and open to the public

About John L. Allen, Jr.
John L. Allen Jr. is associate editor of The Boston Globe after 16 years as the prize-winning Senior Correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. He also serves as the Senior Vatican Analyst for CNN. He is the author of seven best-selling books on the Vatican and Catholic affairs and writes frequently on the Church for major national and international publications. He’s also a popular speaker on Catholic affairs, both in the United States and abroad.

The London Tablet has called Allen "the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language," and renowned papal biographer George Weigel has called him "the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever." When Allen was called upon to put the first question to Pope Benedict XVI aboard the papal plane en route to the United States in April 2008, the Vatican spokesperson said to the pope: "Holy Father, this man needs no introduction." That’s not just a Vatican judgment. Veteran religion writer Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek described Allen as "the journalist other reporters – and not a few cardinals – look to for the inside story on how all the pope’s men direct the world’s largest church."

Allen’s work is admired across ideological divides. Liberal commentator Fr. Andrew Greeley called his writing "indispensable," while Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a conservative, called Allen’s reporting "possibly the best source of information on the Vatican published in the United States." His weekly internet column, "All Things Catholic," is widely read as a source of insight on the global Church.

Allen’s most recent book is The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution. John divides his time between Rome and his home in Denver, Colo. He grew up in western Kansas and holds a Master’s degree in Religious Studies from the University of Kansas.

 
About the Champagnat Lecture
This annual lecture was created to perpetuate the memory of the canonization of Marcellin Champagnat in 1999. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat founded the Marist Brothers, a teaching order dedicated to serving the educational and spiritual needs of our youth. His passionate spirit, daring vision, and persistent work have remained embodied in the mission of the Marist Brothers throughout the world. In 1905, the Marist Brothers established a training center in Poughkeepsie on the banks of the Hudson River on the site of what is now Marist College. Today, the College's mission still reflects the ideals handed down by St. Marcellin and his Brothers.