WASHINGTON (ABP) – The director of a unique federal panel charged with promoting religious freedom worldwide has died after a struggle with cancer.
Joseph Crapa, executive director of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, died Oct. 25, according to a press release from the commission. He was 63.
Crapa had directed the panel's staff since 2002, leading it from an oddly situated and fledgling federal agency to one widely respected – and in some cases feared – by foreign-policy experts at home and abroad.
“Joe had sharp political instincts but a soft personal touch,” said Michael Cromartie, the panel's current chairman. “He had an unwavering, principled commitment to advancing the work of this bipartisan commission in protecting religious freedom worldwide. Everyone who knew and worked with Joe found him to be a remarkably committed public servant.”
Crapa, a Catholic, served as a high-level staffer to congressional Democrats prior to joining the commission. The panel was established by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, approved by Congress and then-President Bill Clinton, but it was bipartisan and was not formally part of any branch of the federal government. Under Crapa's leadership, the panel gained prominence with regular fact-finding missions and reports on abuses of religious freedom and other human rights among U.S. enemies and allies alike.
The commission is made up of nine voting commissioners, three of whom are appointed by the president, two by the congressional leaders of the president's party, and four by congressional leaders of the opposite party. The panel makes policy recommendations to the White House and State Department for pressuring regimes – including friendly ones – to end their abuses of religious freedom.
Despite his partisan background, Republican appointees to the commission praised Crapa's work. “It was an honor to serve on the search committee that recommended Joe Crapa to be the executive director of the commission,” said Richard land, the panel's current vice chairman and head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “As a Republican appointee, I was most happy to enthusiastically endorse and commend this faithful Democrat who loved America and loved the freedom for which it stands. He was a tireless proponent of religious freedom around the world and was instrumental in making the commission an extremely effective voice for religious freedom.”
In other USCIRF news, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky. recently re-appointed Land to the body for a fourth term. “Dr. Land has consistently brought both his formidable commitment and down-to-earth powers of persuasion to bear positively on our work as a commission,” Cromartie said, in a statement announcing the re-appointment.
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