Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 13, 2025 / 15:20 pm
Devout Catholic and pro-life advocate Congressman Chris Smith will be honored at this year’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C.
The New Jersey representative will receive the organization’s annual Christifideles Laici Award at the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 28. Previous recipients of the award include religious freedom advocate Jimmy Lai; legal scholar Helen M. Alvaré; attorney and policy expert Mary Rice Hasson; and former U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
The Christifideles Laici Award was founded in 2019 by the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast to highlight the “good works” of those in service of the Church, according to the organization’s website. The award itself is an original work commissioned by the organization from the classical artist Isaac Dell and is inscribed with the words “In Honor and Gratitude for Fidelity to the Church, Exemplary Selfless and Steadfast Service in the Lord’s Vinyard.”
Smith is currently in his 22nd term in the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District, serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and has been a tireless defender of those suffering from religious persecution and human trafficking.
A staunch advocate of the pro-life cause, Smith is among the confirmed speakers at the March for Life this year along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Live Action Founder Lila Rose.
Late last year, Smith told CNA in an interview following a Mass celebrated in the U.S. Capitol that he and his wife, Marie, share a particular devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and that his office “places all of our pro-life and human rights work under her mantle.”
“I do a lot on the human rights issue,” he said at the time, “and every bit of it, we turn to her and pray, you know, and ask her for guidance.”
Smith told CNA he has a life-sized replica of the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe hanging in his office. “I’m amazed at how many people I meet — because I meet with diplomats all the time because of my human rights work and my committee assignments — they always take note of [the tilma].”
“I find there’s such devotion, particularly with the Latin Americans who come in — they look at [the tilma] and it’s instant,” he said. “And so this is, of course, a celebration of her, [and] the whole story of Juan Diego, and the whole story of, you know, 8 to 9 million people converting from human sacrifice and worshipping gods is such an amazing story of conversion and repair of souls.”
Madalaine Elhabbal is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency based at EWTN’s Washington, D.C., bureau. She has been published by CatholicVote and has also worked as foreign language assistant in France. She is a graduate of Benedictine College.
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