As an American living abroad, I believed religious persecution in Italy was a relic of the past, confined to ancient Roman history or the violence of the early Protestant Reformation. Now, several hundred years later, the treatment of one small evangelical church in the heart of Rome suggests otherwise and evokes the very real and present threat of religious persecution worldwide.

It’s the church’s story and the alarming plight of religious minorities that highlight the need for the next administration to advocate religious freedom across the globe.