Our guests on this episode of Religious Freedom Matters are Ambassador Sam Brownback, a former U.S. senator and Kansas governor who served as the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom from 2018 to 2021, and Rebecca Shah, principal investigator for the Religion and Economic Empowerment Project (REEP) and a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute.

Co-hosts Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, Director of the Conscience Project, and Father Benedict Kiely, founder of Nasarean.org, discuss the increasing violence by Islamist groups against Christians in Nigeria. Their guest is Stephen Rasche, Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom in Conflict Regions at the Religious Freedom Institute and author of The Disappearing People: The Tragic Fate of Christians in the Middle East. Rasche draws on his deep experience with humanitarian aid work in Iraq, to explain Nigeria’s current situation and sound a warning about its possible future.

Co-hosts Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, Director of the Conscience Project, and Joan Desmond, Senior Editor at the Register, discuss religious freedom and persecution in South and Southeast Asia with Professor Paul Marshall, the Wilson Distinguished Professor of Religious Freedom at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. Paul also heads the South and Southeast Asia program at the Religious Freedom Institute and is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, as well as the author and editor of more than 20 books on religion and politics, including the best-selling survey of religious persecution worldwide, ‘Their Blood Cries Out.’

The world was horrified this week by the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen, the beloved 90-year-old former archbishop of Hong Kong, by the Chinese authorities. How could such a dreadful thing happen? In this latest episode of our Religious Freedom Matters podcast, your hosts, Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, Director of the Conscience Project, and Joan Desmond, Senior Editor at the Register, hear crucial background information from Nina Shea. Nina is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and an international human rights lawyer specializing in the horrifying persecution of religious believers in China.

George Weigel of Ethics and Public Policy Center joins The Conscience Project’s Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and NCRegister’s Joan Desmond as an expert guest to give important background on Russia and Ukraine. Also, Father Benedict Kiely, founder of Nasarean.org, an advocacy and aid organization for persecuted Christians, talks about the special need to support Ukrainians displaced by the war.

What’s the connection between religious freedom and school choice? “Your right to educate your child along the lines of what your beliefs are is critical to the human experience,” asserts veteran statesman and former Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. For years, advocacy for the two issues has been pursued on two separate tracks. On this episode, Brownback joins hosts Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and Joan Desmond to connect the dots between the cause of religious freedom and school choice in America.

Hispanic Catholics are a large part of the Church in America. Why are they such a small part of Catholic schools? “The future of the Catholic Church has a Hispanic face.” Lucia Luzondo, expert in Hispanic ministry, points to the disconnect between the growing presence of Hispanic Catholics in the United States and the low enrollment of Hispanic children in Catholic schools. With hosts Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and Joan Desmond, Lucia explores some of the reasons for this and suggests steps to improve outreach to Hispanic families. Now is the time to bridge the divide so more Hispanic families can choose Catholic schools for their children.

Catholic schools aren’t an elite privilege. Historically they provided education to diverse communities and today they can do the same. “We need to do a much better job as a Church.” Shawn Peterson, President of Catholic Education Partners, joins hosts Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and Joan Desmond in this episode to discuss the history of Catholic schools and the vital importance of promoting authentic Catholic education. Parents are becoming empowered to exercise their role as primary educators to their children. Shawn reminds us as Catholics of the need to dispel the myth that Catholic education is only for the wealthy. He educates people on the real history of Catholic education as a way for the poor and underserved to rise in society, and he charges Catholics to get out of the “Upper Room” and preach the accessibility of Catholic schools, neighborhood by neighborhood on this episode in the school choice season of Religious Freedom Matters.

How can Catholic schools and parents tap into school choice initiatives? Enrollment in Catholic schools has surged over the past two years in some regions. Thomas Carroll, Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston, tells hosts Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and Joan Desmond how he and his team are responding and preparing for the future. Nonetheless, inequities in our current use of public funds for education exist. What can be done to advocate for school choice initiatives so public funds can follow children to the schools their parents prefer? Leslie Hiner, Vice President of Legal Affairs at the nonpartisan school choice advocacy group EdChoice, wraps up this season of Religious Freedom Matters with tips on how to be successful advocates for school choice.

More families are looking beyond government-run schools. Truly Catholic schools make a difference in parents’ choices, says Bishop Thomas Daly. “I think this is a crucial time for school choice,” says Bishop Thomas Daly, Chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Catholic Education on this first episode in the school choice season of Religious Freedom Matters. Bishop Daly joins hosts Andrea Picciotti-Bayer and Joan Desmond to share his perspective as a long-time educator and administrator at Catholic schools on the crucial importance that our schools “stay on mission” as more and more families are looking beyond government-run schools.