After a successful fundraising campaign, the Church of Christ mission was able to purchase two buildings, in Milan and Rome, and expand its operations to Italy’s two main cities as well as other parts of the country. The decision to open a prayer hall in the heart of Rome, in the Prati neighborhood near the prominent Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re parish and just a few minutes from Vatican City, was particularly bold and controversial. The Catholic Church, along with its numerous allies in the Italian government and parliament, reacted harshly, condemning the move as another intolerable provocation. In September 1952, the Ministry of the Interior launched a crackdown on the mission’s activities as well as those of other Protestant groups. Several of the mission’s churches were shut down, and police were dispatched to prevent access to them. As in the “stoning” crisis of 1950, many members of Congress in the United States responded forcefully, viewing and portraying the crackdown as an unacceptable infringement on the fundamental right to religious freedom and a violation of both the 1948 US–Italian bilateral treaty and the Italian constitution.