John D.S. Allen

Your election represents one of the most historic moments in the modern history of your country: the peaceful transition from one elected government to another.

But certainly, John, when it comes to doctrinal issues or controversial issues, abortion, contraception, same-sex marriage, things that the Pope -- I mean, there's no indication that the Pope is anywhere taking a new direction on any of…

This was his very first decision and to embrace this Franciscan spirit as his first decision I think sends a very clear symbol that in terms of returning the church to the sort of core sense of what it's all about, this is a reform.

I think it is clear that there still is an image problem for the Catholic Church when it comes to women.

To embrace this Franciscan spirit as his first decision I think sends a very clear symbol that in terms of returning the church to the sort of core sense of what it's all about, this is a reform.

I think one of the challenges facing Pope Francis and church leaders at other levels is to try to counteract that by in every way they possibly can putting women forward in meaningful leadership positions.

These conversations are remarkably frank. This is not attack-ad politics, but they are extraordinarily conscious of how much hinges on this decision.

If you look at the conclaves of the 20th century, half the time, the guy who was identified as the front-runner actually got elected. The problem, Anderson, this time, there is no front-runner.

I think being pope is an impossible job. Think about what we want popes to be. We want them to be intellectual giants. We want them to be political heavyweights. We want them to be Fortune 500 CEOs. We want them to be living saints and we…

The question is, how do you define it. And I think many of the cardinals who are coming into this election from other parts of the world who are kind of in an anti-establishment mood, to be honest with you, what they mean by reform are…

I mean think about what we want Popes to be. We want them to be intellectual giants. We want them to be political heavyweights. We want them to be Fortune 500 CEOs. We want them to be living saints and we want them to be media rock stars.

There's no clear front runner for the papacy. The last thing these 115 cardinals who are going to cast votes want is to go into the Sistine chapel and become deadlocked and have to stay there for three or four days.

I think you have to ask the question why is he so fatigued? And I think at least part of that picture is that he has spent much of the last eight years frustrated that his efforts to be a teaching pope... have been hampered by a kind of…

It almost defies belief that someone would be leading such a double life and yet taking such a hard line in public.

The voice of the people as expressed through the loya jirga is the highest expression of the Afghan people.

Only long enough to train our security forces and then leave. After that you will be welcome to visit us, not as soldiers, but as guests.

Thanks to the great courage and skill of the U.S. Armed Forces and civilian personnel, our coalition partners, and our Afghan partners, our strategy is working.

We are moving intelligently and purposefully toward the day, in the near future, when Afghans once again are in full control of their own security, and able to define their own national destiny as a peaceful, stable member of the community…

Those magnificent troops are sacrificing every day. Many of them are sacrificing their lives.

It is critical that these tragic occurrences not blind us to the significant progress that we have made.

We embarked on this fight a decade ago to ensure that the terrorist networks that struck in New York; in Washington, DC; and in the skies over Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001 would never again be able to use Afghanistan as their…

Justice will be done and any one responsible will be held accountable.

This unfortunate act stands in stark contrast to the many years during which U.S. forces have demonstrated deep respect for the religious practices of the Afghan people.

I reject the use of the word 'demon' when it is applied to the 130,000-plus troops that serve in ISAF.

I don't want to lower the safety or effectiveness standards.