The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved legislation reauthorizing the United States Commission
on International Religious Freedom, which had been threatened with shuttering. The
Commission will continue functioning pending expected approval of the Senate-modified
bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, which had passed its own reauthorization
in September. The Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of
the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, spoke
with Chris Altieri about the importance of religious freedom for the bishops, both
at home and abroad. Listen