By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-04-03 20:31:04 | Updated at 2025-04-04 15:03:03
18 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // In a renewed appeal to defend persecuted believers worldwide, a coalition of Christian leaders and religious freedom advocates called on President Donald Trump to prioritize religious liberty as a matter of national security in his new term.
Their April 2 letter, backed by 60 signatories, presses for immediate executive actions to restore and advance “America First” principles with religious freedom at the forefront.
The group behind the letter, led by Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), expressed gratitude for Trump’s prior efforts on global religious freedom and pointed to unfinished work that requires renewed attention.
“Your 2020 Executive Order on International Religious Freedom…was not rescinded and is still in force,” the letter reads. “It should be reiterated as a whole-of-government strategy and fully implemented. Congress should be urged to give it statutory authority.”
The coalition pointed to Open Doors’ World Watch report, which shows a staggering rise in global Christian persecution — climbing from 215 million affected in 2018 to over 380 million today, a 57% increase in just eight years.
Their recommendations to the president span both domestic and international concerns. On the diplomatic front, the letter urges Trump to enforce the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act and its 2016 amendment, call for stricter designations of religious freedom violators, and halt the routine waivers that shield offending countries from sanctions.
The letter also calls for the appointment of key officials, including an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and a National Security Council advisor focused on the same cause.
Addressing internal challenges, the signers recommend classifying the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and resolving the R1 visa backlog that affects clergy entering the U.S.
“The [visa] backlog affects religious workers’ ability to serve U.S. faith communities and can lead to clergy shortages,” the coalition asserted.
They also advocate for protective asylum pathways for Christians fleeing violent persecution abroad, urging the administration to “make allowance for those seeking asylum…to come to the U.S. and stay here while they are in danger.”
The letter also recalls a defining moment from Trump’s first term: his public challenge to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari over Christian persecution.
“To this day, our colleagues in Nigeria refer to your meeting with then President Muhammadu Buhari when you asked him in front of the media about the suffering Christians in that country,” the letter states. “That simple action had a great impact.”
According to the signers, attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt temporarily declined following that exchange, catching Nigerian leaders off guard.
However, the letter laments that this progress was short-lived. Rather than address the violence, the Nigerian government responded with a lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill, pushing a narrative that jihadist attacks stem from climate change or land disputes.
“Thankfully, we know better and so do you,” the coalition stated. “Meanwhile, the killings continue unabated.”
The letter also called on the Trump administration to back Rep. Chris Smith’s House Resolution 220, which calls for Nigeria to be designated a Country of Particular Concern due to its status as the deadliest nation in the world for Christians.
>> Coalition urges US to declare Nigeria ‘nation under siege’ amid Christian persecution <<
