Acknowledgments

I want very specially to thank my intrepid editor, Gary Jansen, who first made the suggestion that a collaboration between John Allen and me might produce an interesting book. I also want to express my gratitude toward my Word on Fire colleagues, Fr. Steve Grunow, Brandon Vogt, and Joseph Gloor, all of whom read the initial drafts of the manuscript and made extremely valuable recommendations and corrections. I’m grateful as well to Fr. Paul Murray, one of the very best spiritual writers on the scene today, who read through the interview and helped especially with the formulation of the title. Finally, I want to acknowledge the hard work, patience, and dedication of the indispensable John Allen.

—Bishop Robert Barron

The obvious place to begin in giving thanks on this project is with Bishop Robert Barron, whose graciousness, availability, intelligence, and good humor were unfailing. I also want to thank Gary Jansen, our editor at Penguin Random House, whose smarts about publishing and dedication to a project are unmatched. Beyond those two, I’d like to thank my colleagues at Crux, especially Inés San Martín, Shannon Levitt, Terri Lynn, Clair Giangravé, and Christopher White for their friendship and support. Finally, as always, endless gratitude goes to Shannon and Ellis for the love.

—John L. Allen Jr.