Religious Freedom Matters

Season 4 (Ep. 5) — Ambassador Sam Brownback and Rebecca Shah

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.

Season 4 (Ep. 4) — Stephen Rasche on Islamist Persecution of Christians in Nigeria

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.

Season 4 (Ep. 3) — Paul Marshall on Religious Freedom and Persecution in South Asia

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.’

Season 4 (Ep. 2) — Cardinal Zen’s Arrest: A Window Into Religious Persecution in China

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.

Season 4 (Ep. 1) — George Weigel and Father Benedict Kiely on Russia’s “False Story on Ukraine”

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.