In the Press...
CatholicVote article on Smith's work to advance religious freedom throughout the globe'Harrowing stories of persecution turned Congressman Smith into a religious freedom champion'By Elise Winland Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., recently recalled what sparked his lifelong mission to defend religious freedom: reading “Tortured for Christ,” Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand’s account of underground Christians tortured under dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. “I was moved to tears. And challenged to act,” he said during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) Christian Persecution Summit Oct. 30. A Catholic and longtime human rights advocate, Smith said the encounter 45 years ago shaped his decades-long focus on defending the persecuted and advancing religious freedom worldwide. “Religious persecution is festering and exploding around the world. What has been unconscionable for decades, centuries, has gotten worse,” he warned. He later added, “We must act. In Nigeria. In China. In scores of nations where the believer is unwelcome.” Citing data from the Open Doors 2025 World Watch List, Smith noted that more than 380 million Christians around the world “suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.” The Catholic congressman recounted meeting persecuted Christians across the world — from underground pastors in Moscow to survivors of terrorist attacks in Nigeria. He described his 1982 visit with the “Siberian Seven,” Pentecostal Christians who lived inside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for five years, and his later encounter with Habila Adamu, a Nigerian Christian who survived a Boko Haram execution attempt. “Dragged from his home by Boko Haram terrorists, [Habila] was ordered to renounce his faith,” Smith recalled. “With an AK-47 pressed to his face, he was asked, ‘Are you ready to die as a Christian?’ With amazing courage, Habila answered, ‘Yes, I am ready to die as a Christian.’” “The terrorist pulled the trigger. A bullet ripped through Habila’s face. He crumpled to the ground, left for dead,” Smith continued. “By some miracle, he survived.” Smith said Habila later traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify at a congressional hearing, urging lawmakers to “do everything you can to end this ruthless religious persecution,” but first, to “know Christ.” “Delay is denial — and a death sentence to many,” Smith said, calling for swift U.S. action to confront religious persecution, particularly in Nigeria and China. He condemned the Biden administration’s 2021 decision to remove Nigeria from the U.S. list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC), a designation the Trump administration restored this week to spotlight rampant anti-Christian violence by Islamist terrorists. “The systematic slaughter and abuse of Nigerian believers must stop,” Smith said. He cited testimony from Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi, Nigeria, who told Congress in March that “Militant Fulani herdsmen are terrorists. They steal and vandalize, they kill and boast about it, they kidnap and rape, and they enjoy total impunity from the elected officials.” Turning to China, Smith condemned President Xi Jinping’s campaign against religious minorities, pointing to the disappearance of Catholic Bishop Su Zhimin and the recent arrest of Zion Church pastor Jin “Ezra” Mingri and several others. Smith met Bishop Su, a leader of the underground Catholic Church, during a 1994 visit to China. “He was beaten, starved, and tortured for his faith and spent some 40 years in prison,” Smith said. “Yet, he prayed not just for the persecuted church, but for the conversion of those who hate, torture, and kill.” Bishop Su was later arrested again and has not been heard from since, Smith said. “In Xi Jinping’s China, devotion that isn’t Communist Party-approved is treated as a political problem to be solved by police,” he said. “We in Congress will pray — and not stop fighting — until perpetrators are brought to justice and the religiously persecuted are safe and free,” Smith concluded. “We will not be silent while our brothers and sisters are slaughtered.” |