John L. Allen, Jr., Vatican expert, author, and journalist, will present the annual Cushwa Center Lecture, “Seeing the Church with Global Eyes: The Rise of a World Church and What It Means for American Catholics.”
Allen is senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and senior Vatican analyst for CNN. His nine books includeThe Future Church: How Ten Trends Are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church, The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know, A People of Hope, The Rise of Benedict XVI and All the Pope's Men: The Inside Story of How the Vatican Really Thinks. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Miami Herald, The Nation, and many other publications. His Internet column, "All Things Catholic," is considered by knowledgeable observers to be the best single source of insights on Vatican affairs in the English language.