The word from Rome New York
So, has the first year of Pope Benedict's papacy been a success or a failure? Or can one use market-oriented terms to measure something as spiritual and as secular as a papacy? Well, when it comes to answering such questions and assessing what's going on in the Catholic Church, Rainy Day relies heavily on the analysis of John Allen, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. His weekly Word from Rome report is a must-read here.
Imagine our surprise, then, when we heard that Allen will be relocating to New York in July. 
The move "will allow him to report more extensively on the Catholic church in the United States as well as to travel and report on the Catholic community worldwide," said the NCR. "Catholicism in the 21st century will be increasingly 'upside down,' driven by the experience and energy of the global South, meaning Africa, Asia and Latin America," Allen added. "I want to tell the story of how this transition will reconfigure virtually everything inside Catholicism, by spending time in those places, figuring out what makes the churches there tick, and then teasing out how that will influence broader trends." But true to the American work ethic, as opposed to the Protestant one, even though Allen will be based in Manhattan, he will remain the paper's Rome correspondent and NCR will maintain an office and residence in Rome.
In keeping with these changes, Allen's "Word from Rome" will be rechristened "All Things Catholic" in July to reflect his new situation. And his take on Benedict's first 12 months? "One year on, he shapes up to be more a consulter than an enforcer more a teacher than a star."
