Congressmen Frank Wolf (VA-10) and Chris Smith (NJ-4) have forged a friendship over many decades that changed international religious freedom for America and the world. RFI President Emeritus Tom Farr tells that story in his latest essay in Public Discourse. Farr writes:

In 1981, two men entered Congress who would over time become the chief architects of modern U.S. religious freedom policy. But the story really begins a few years later.  

In 1985, [Wolf and Smith] sealed a lifelong friendship that transformed the way America and the world engage religious freedom. On the basis of this remarkable legacy, they will be the joint recipients of this year’s Defender of Religious Freedomaward presented by the Religious Freedom Institute. 

The friendship began in Bucharest, Romania, where Wolf and Smith met with victims of the brutal Communist despot Nicolae Ceauşescu, who routinely silenced or eliminated people of faith.  

During their visit, terrified and desperate Romanians told the congressmen their stories of torture and rape, and dared to give them crumpled notes identifying family members who were also jailed for their faith. Profoundly moved and angered, Wolf publicly called the Ceauşescu regime “darker and more evil” than any on earth. Smith would later tell the story by reflecting on the bookTortured for Christ. Written by Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand, the memoir chronicled the unspeakable physical torture and psychological abuse of underground Christians under Ceauşescu, including Pastor Wurmbrand and his wife Sabinat. “I was moved to tears when I read it,” Smith recalled, “and challenged to act.” 

Read the full article: “The Friendship That Changed International Religious Freedom for America and the World.”