Who We Are
The Crux Journalism Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing serious, independent Catholic journalism worldwide. It is guided by a board of experienced journalists and leaders committed to rigorous, fair-minded reporting.
The Institute was founded in 2025 by John L. Allen Jr., one of the world’s most respected Vatican analysts and the longtime editor of Crux, whose career set a global standard for independent coverage of the Catholic Church and public life.
The board includes Elise Allen, a senior correspondent based in Rome; Amanda Bowman, with expertise in nonprofit leadership and governance; and Charles Collins, a veteran Catholic journalist and editor with extensive international reporting experience.
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CJI’s work is generously supported by George Gunning, whose commitment helps ensure that vital stories of faith, conscience, and religious freedom are reported with depth and integrity.
Together, the Institute’s board, leadership, and supporters are committed to Catholic journalism that is intellectually serious, globally engaged, and built to endure.
What We Do
Our international reporting initiative supports journalists through competitive fellowships that fund on-the-ground reporting in regions often overlooked by international media.
Reporters in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia produce original coverage focusing on religion and public life, including religious persecution, corruption, governance, and stories of resilience and local efforts to improve life in impoverished communities.
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In addition to its international fellowships, the Institute supports aspiring U.S.-based journalists through a separate program offering stipends and professional mentorship. These fellowships provide practical reporting experience while developing the next generation of journalists committed to independent coverage of the Catholic Church and religion in public life.
Why It Matters
Around the world, tens of millions of Christians live in environments where practicing their faith carries real social, legal, or physical risk. In places such as Nigeria, where religious violence has claimed countless lives and displaced entire communities, reliable reporting remains essential to understanding both the scale of the crisis and its human cost.
Through firsthand reporting, the Institutes projects document violence, discrimination, and restrictions on religious life, while also conveying the complexity, resilience, and daily realities of Catholic communities under pressure. Our goal is to ensure that stories from the global Church are reported with depth, context, and credibility, and brought to a wider audience that might otherwise never encounter them.