Brian Murphy (writer)

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For other persons of the same name, see Brian Murphy.

Brian Murphy (born 1959) is the U.S. religion editor at the Associated Press and the author of a number of non-fiction books on religion, including "The New Men," a chronicle of American seminarians in Rome, and "The Root of Wild Madder," about the carpet trade in Iran and Afghanistan. He is a graduate of Boston College, where he was an editor of The Heights.

Prior to his appointment as U.S. religion editor in 2006, Murphy covered religion internationally for the AP. He first joined the AP in Boston in 1987 and joined the International Desk in New York three years later. Murphy was posted to Rome in 1993. In 1997, he was named Athens bureau chief and began regular reporting from Iran.

A veteran foreign correspondent, Murphy has covered stories for the AP in more than 40 countries, including the Rwanda genocide, the Balkan conflicts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. His coverage of religion has included major events such as the death of Pope John Paul II and investigative reports on radical Islam and the rise of Christianity in Africa.