Biography

After school, English studied literature and journalism. While he was still studying, he worked as a journalist through voluntary work. After completing his studies, English worked as a journalist for various print media. In 1987 he moved to Rome, where he headed the correspondents' office at Axel Springer Verlag until the mid-1990s. English married and had a son. As a correspondent in the Vatican, he began reporting for newspapers such as "Die Welt", "Welt am Sonntag", "Bild", "Bild am Sonntag", "Hamburger Abendblatt" and "Berliner Morgenpost". Due to the mass distribution of these Springer press organs, English quickly became one of the best-known German foreign journalists, who also made himself popular thanks to his humorous and apt style.

From the 1990s onward, English made a name for himself as a papal expert par excellence, as he was able to accompany Pope John Paul II, whom he had met personally in 1988, on his travels since 1995, which gave him valuable insights into the personality and everyday work of the head of the Catholic Church made possible. The Pope only granted this privilege to six journalists. The Vatican correspondent published two novels, "The Silent God of Wolves" (1995) and "The Acts of Peter" (1998), which are linked to the scenes of his everyday work. This increased his popularity even further, so that English increasingly appeared as a papal expert in other media, such as television talk shows or radio programs.

The journalist ultimately wrote a biography about the Pope, which was published under the title "John Paul II. The Secret of Karol Wojtyla" (2004) and had a second edition the following year. In the year of John Paul II's death, English also published the photo book "John Paul II. His Life in Pictures" (2005), which supplemented the biography. Immediately after the death of "his" Pope in April 2005, English described in another book the public events that took place in Rome with the death of John Paul II and the rise of his successor Benedict XVI. connected: "Habemus Papam. From John Paul II to Benedict XVI." (2005). The author also presented the story behind the Giuseppe Gulotta case to the public. At the end of 2006 his publication "God's Traces, The Miracles of the Catholic Church" was published.

In 2015 and 2018 his book titles "The Fighter in the Vatican - Pope Francis and his courageous path" and "My Rome: The Secrets of the Eternal City" followed; both published by Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich.

- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth