It was a brief encounter with Pope John Paul II in 1999 that taught Andrea Picciotti-Bayer a lesson in Christian humility that continues to guide the Stanford-educated lawyer and EWTN legal analyst.
The young mother of two boys had the rare opportunity to attend a private Mass with the pope at Castel Gandolfo. “It was an exceptional thing to be a part of,” said Picciotti-Bayer. “The Holy Father was visibly debilitated, but through illness, he was still engaged.”
She wanted to ask the pope to bless her sons in the receiving line. “I thought, ‘this may be silly,’ but I’m going to give a picture of my kids to the pope. It fell to the ground as he was blessing it and the Swiss guards went racing after it.”
Clumsy though it was, the pope kept his good humor and her boys were blessed. “It was a moment of humanity, to see him in his physical decline,” she said. “I entrusted my sons to John Paul II and I still do.”
Like the pope who inspired millions of Catholics of her generation, Picciotti-Bayer maintains a hectic schedule. As the director of the Conscience Project, she keeps tabs on threats to religious liberty, in addition to writing a regular column for the National Catholic Register, appearing as a frequent guest on EWTN’s “News Nightly,” and serving as a weekly regular on Ave Maria radio, where she explains the complexities of U.S. Supreme Court cases.
“The freedom of Catholics to exercise their faith in all aspects of their lives, and the autonomy of the church in advancing her mission is to promote human flourishing,” said Piciotti-Bayer. She’s concerned that religious liberty is under unprecedented assault on many fronts.
Cases that highlight anti-Catholic bias include prospective foster care parents in Massachusetts who were rejected by the state because of their Catholic beliefs, and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma, whose certification as a charter school was threatened because of its religious identity.
“Church-run schools need to make it very clear to staff that they have a role in promoting Catholic teaching in both word and deed,” wrote Picciotti-Bayer, in a recent Register column. “These are, after all, Catholic schools. When the Supreme Court expanded Title VII to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the statute’s prohibition of discrimination based on sex, it specifically noted that religious freedom had not been presented to the court.”
The onslaught of religious freedom cases keeps Picciotti-Bayer’s phone ringing daily. “I’ll be honest, I have taken a radio interview or two while parked on the side of the road.”
Five of her 10 children are still at home, so when she’s not preparing for a media appearance or scrambling to meet a writing deadline, she’s carpooling to and from school, cross-country, soccer, volleyball and basketball practice. But daily Mass comes first.
“The Blessed Sacrament sustains me,” said Picciotti-Bayer, a parishioner of St. John the Beloved Church in McLean. “There’s a lot of grace that I receive to fulfill the mission that he’s given me. In addition to daily Mass is the importance of taking the time for prayer, both individually and as family, whether it’s praying the rosary before heading off to bed or driving from one place to another. Our Lady is a great source of strength.”
The practice of family prayer was cultivated in the dozen years they lived in the coffee-growing region of Colombia where Catholic culture and life are interchangeable. “The church is literally the center of people’s lives because it’s right in the center of the towns that we lived in,” she said. “The chiming of the church bells helps mark people’s days. There’s no excuse for missing daily Mass.”
Knowing that her children would have greater opportunities in the U.S., the family returned home. They landed in Northern Virginia where Picciotti-Bayer resumed her law career after 13 years as a homeschool mom. Being a committed daily Massgoer and carpool mom requires her to be creative, shuffling between St. John the Beloved, St. Michael Church in Annandale and St. James Church in Falls Church. When she’s battling fatigue, she calls on St. John Paul II and St. Josemaría Escrivá for help.
“I really love being part of the Arlington diocese,” she said. “I’m thankful my kids can grow up in a place where the church is so on fire.”
