Attorney and columnist Andrea Picciotti-Bayer (above) was named the winner of the Religious Freedom Impact Award by the Religious Freedom Institute on July 2, 2025. / Credit: Courtesy of Andrea Picciotti-Bayer

CNA Newsroom, Jul 4, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is the 2025 recipient of the Religious Freedom Impact Award, the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) announced on July 2.

The Religious Freedom Impact Award honors leaders who demonstrate “consistent, effective, and innovative leadership in advancing religious freedom” through law, policy, or culture. It will be presented at the RFI Annual Dinner on November 6 in Washington, D.C. 

Picciotti-Bayer is an accomplished attorney, policy expert, political commentator, and mother who has spent her career defending the conscience rights and religious liberty of individuals and institutions, particularly in the areas of education, parental rights, and health care.

A Catholic mother of 10, Picciotti-Bayer told CNA that she sees God’s hand in her life and credits him with her success, saying Christians, especially young women navigating careers and motherhood, should trust that “we can never outdo God in generosity.” 

She said motherhood has played a vital role in informing her work. 

“Having children made me a better lawyer,” she told CNA. “It allowed me to understand firsthand the concerns of parents fighting for their ability to raise their children according to their consciences.” 

After more than a decade focused on raising her children, she returned to the legal world “ready to roll up my sleeves.” 

Picciotti-Bayer is the director of the Conscience Project, where she works with intellectuals and legal scholars to craft public arguments and file amicus briefs in significant religious freedom cases at the appellate level as well as at the U.S. Supreme Court. 

She fights against government overreach, helping individuals and institutions to exercise their faith without unjust interference.

“Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is a tenacious advocate for religious Americans threatened by government intrusion into their public and private lives,” said Religious Freedom Institute President David Trimble. “Her voice brings clarity to the confusion that so often surrounds some of the most charged religious freedom conflicts in American law and culture today.”

Picciotti-Bayer began her career in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served as a trial and appellate attorney. 

She later advised the Catholic Association and worked as a strategic consultant for the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America, authoring amicus briefs in pivotal religious freedom and free speech cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate courts.

Beyond the courtroom, Picciotti-Bayer is a prominent voice in the media, serving as a legal analyst for EWTN News and a weekly guest on “Ave Maria in the Afternoon.” She also writes a column for the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been published in multiple other news outlets. 

Her impactful journalism recently earned her the 2025 Catholic Media Association Award for Best Coverage of Religious Liberty Issues.