While American journalist David von Drehle has enjoyed a highly distinguished career, including stints with both the Washington Post and Time, I doubt that he’ll look back at a piece he filed on me on March 14, 2013, the day after the election of Pope Francis, as one of his professional highlights.
Published by Time and headlined “John L Allen Jr: The Man Who Picked the Pope”, the story styled me as a savant who, swimming against the tide, had correctly forecast the selection of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as the successor to Pope Benedict XVI.
