John L. Allen Jr. (born 20 January 1965) is an American journalist serving as editor of the Roman Catholic–oriented news website "Crux", formerly hosted by "The Boston Globe" and currently produced in partnership with the Catholic fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus. Before moving to "The Boston Globe" when Crux was established in 2014, Allen worked for 16 years in Rome as a Vatican watcher, covering news about the Holy See and the Pope. During that time he was senior correspondent for the "National Catholic Reporter" and an analyst of Vatican affairs for CNN and NPR.