CRS is Your Agency

Catholic Relief Services was founded by the bishops of the United States to work with the universal Church.

CRS' mission is rooted in the Gospel and in the teachings of the Catholic Church. This is what distinguishes CRS from some of the other well-known American humanitarian organizations, like CARE, Save the Children or Mercy Corps.

CRS is owned by and accountable to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Because of this unique relationship, CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. This distinguishes CRS from other Catholic-led agencies that do international humanitarian work.

CRS is part of and acts within the "ecclesial community" that is the universal Catholic Church. Our closest and most frequent collaborators are the local Catholic dioceses and their Caritas agencies, as well as groups and institutions run by religious and lay groups.

Did You Know

CRS programs touch the lives of more than 100 million people in more than 100 countries around the world.

CRS provides emergency relief in the wake of disasters—both natural and man-made—and offers hope for the future through development projects. Wherever we work, we seek to help the poor realize their human dignity and achieve improved and sustainable standards of living.

CRS is efficient and effective: 93 percent of the agency's expenditures go directly to programs that benefit the poor overseas.

CRS' relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding.

Notable CRS Milestones

Establishment in 1943:

Catholic Relief Services was founded in the crucible of war. Originally called War Relief Services, the agency was created in 1943 by the U.S. bishops to help resettle Polish refugees fleeing from Soviet gulags and to assist war orphans and other suffering people. After the war, CRS assisted with the rebuilding of Europe, and in the ensuing years began responding to the needs of poor families and communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Resettling Immigrants:

Under the terms of the U.S. Government's Displaced Persons Act, CRS helped 95,380 people resettle in the United States between 1948 and 1951. Staff and volunteers met the new immigrants as they arrived in the country, helped them clear U.S. Customs and made special arrangements with hotels and hospitals for those who were sick or unable to proceed to their final destinations.

Biafran Civil War:

More than 1 million people were displaced during the 1968 Biafran War (a war of secession in what is now east and southeast Nigeria). During the famine that followed, CRS provided life-saving emergency aid despite a total blockage of seaports and roads in the east. CRS organized more than 100 risky nighttime airlifts of food and medicine.

Southeast Asian Refugee Crisis:

Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, CRS responded to the desperate needs of the refugees in Southeast Asia. In 1980, CRS established the Nong Khai refugee camp in northern Thailand on the Laotian border, which held over 45,000 Lao and Hmong refugees.

Ethiopian Famine:

By the end of the Ethiopia famine (1982-1985), CRS had distributed 36,000 tons of food and was feeding 750,000 Ethiopians. CRS handled the distribution of 90 percent of all U.S. government food that entered the country and committed $15 million of privately contributed funds to the emergency.

Rwanda Genocide:

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, CRS staff, operating out of Burundi and Uganda, delivered emergency relief to thousands of traumatized people. The tragedy in Rwanda moved CRS to re-examine our role throughout the world. As a result, CRS began approaching our work and relationships through a "justice lens" to ensure programming not only meets immediate needs, but also works to overcome conflict and build peace through right relationships.

Hurricane Mitch:

More than 12,000 died when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador in 1998. More than 40 inches of rain fell in just five days, causing swollen rivers to break their banks, ripping out bridges, and destroying roads, crops and homes. Within the U.S. Catholic community, 182 dioceses contributed more than $29 million to support the CRS emergency response.

Tsunami:

In response to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, CRS mounted the largest relief effort in its history—a five-year, $200- million-plus commitment to emergency and long-term reconstruction assistance in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. CRS built more than 11,000 permanent homes, and supported more than 84,000 people with cash-for-work activities, nearly 270,000 people with health care and direct medical services, and nearly 80,000 people with water infrastructure projects, among other activities.

Response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic:

Since 1986, when CRS initiated its first HIV project in Bangkok, Thailand, the agency has expanded HIV programming to 52 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. With an expenditure of more than $120 million in the 2008 fiscal year, CRS operates more than 250 HIV projects in the poorest and most vulnerable areas of the developing world. The CRS-led AIDSRelief consortium is providing treatment and care to more than 370,000 people in nine countries, with more than 135,000 of these patients receiving life-saving antiretroviral treatment, a regimen that allows many with HIV to lead normal lives.

Pope Benedict XVI on the Church's Ministry of Charity

Caritas in Veritate

Charity is love received and given. It is "grace" (cháris). Its source is the wellspring of the Father's love for the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Love comes down to us from the Son. It is creative love, through which we have our being; it is redemptive love, through which we are recreated. Love is revealed and made present by Christ (cf. Jn 13:1) and "poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Rom 5:5). As the objects of God's love, men and women become subjects of charity, they are called to make themselves instruments of grace, so as to pour forth God's charity and to weave networks of charity. This dynamic of charity received and given is what gives rise to the Church's social teaching, which is caritas in veritate in re sociali: the proclamation of the truth of Christ's love in society. (5)

Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is "mine" to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is "his", what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting. I cannot "give" what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice. If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just towards them. Not only is justice not extraneous to charity, not only is it not an alternative or parallel path to charity: justice is inseparable from charity, and intrinsic to it. Justice is the primary way of charity or, in Paul VI's words, "the minimum measure" of it, an integral part of the love "in deed and in truth" (1 Jn 3:18), to which Saint John exhorts us. On the one hand, charity demands justice: recognition and respect for the legitimate rights of individuals and peoples. It strives to build the earthly city according to law and justice. On the other hand, charity transcends justice and completes it in the logic of giving and forgiving. The earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion. Charity always manifests God's love in human relationships as well, it gives theological and salvific value to all commitment for justice in the world. (6)

Only if we are aware of our calling, as individuals and as a community, to be part of God's family as his sons and daughters, will we be able to generate a new vision and muster new energy in the service of a truly integral humanism. The greatest service to development, then, is a Christian humanism that enkindles charity and takes its lead from truth, accepting both as a lasting gift from God. Openness to God makes us open towards our brothers and sisters and towards an understanding of life as a joyful task to be accomplished in a spirit of solidarity. (78)

Awareness of God's undying love sustains us in our laborious and stimulating work for justice and the development of peoples, amid successes and failures, in the ceaseless pursuit of a just ordering of human affairs. God's love calls us to move beyond the limited and the ephemeral, it gives us the courage to continue seeking and working for the benefit of all, even if this cannot be achieved immediately and if what we are able to achieve, alongside political authorities and those working in the field of economics, is always less than we might wish. God gives us the strength to fight and to suffer for love of the common good, because he is our All, our greatest hope. (78)

Deus Caritas Est and the Church's Ministry of Charity

The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word. (22)

The Church's deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia), and exercising the ministry of charity (diakonia). These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable. For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being. (25, citing the Congregation for Bishops, Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops Apostolorum Successores [22 February 2004], 194, Vatican City 2004, p. 213.)

Yet, while professional competence is a primary, fundamental requirement, it is not of itself sufficient. We are dealing with human beings, and human beings always need something more than technically proper care. They need humanity. They need heartfelt concern. Those who work for the Church's charitable organizations must be distinguished by the fact that they do not merely meet the needs of the moment, but they dedicate themselves to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity. (31)

The Code of Canon Law, in the canons on the ministry of the Bishop, does not expressly mention charity as a specific sector of episcopal activity, but speaks in general terms of the Bishop's responsibility for coordinating the different works of the apostolate with due regard for their proper character. Recently, however, the Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops explored more specifically the duty of charity as a responsibility incumbent upon the whole Church and upon each Bishop in his Diocese, and it emphasized that the exercise of charity is an action of the Church as such, and that, like the ministry of Word and Sacrament, it too has been an essential part of her mission from the very beginning. (32)

Homily Helps

March 13, 2011 | March 20, 2011 | March 27, 2011 | April 3, 2011
April 10, 2011

First Sunday of Lent

March 13, 2011

"The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7) In view of the Creation, the human person has a vital connection to the earth and to God.

How then do we make sense of what happened in Haiti on January 12, 2010? A catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake claimed the lives of more than 230,000, injured more than 300,000 and affected more than 3,000,000 people. Since that time, the Haitian people have been rebuilding and recovering from the devastation.

Jeanne Ornelie Desir and her husband are working to support a family of twenty, six of their own children and twelve additional relatives who fled Port-au-Prince on January 12. Many families have expanded to care for refugees of the earthquake, and this has put a strain on food resources. Jeanne and her husband rely on farming to support their family. Since Jeanne started attending an agriculture school supported by Catholic Relief Services, she has begun to grow tomatoes, eggplant, leeks and carrots. She said, "I will use some of this food to feed my family and will sell the rest at the local market. Now we have beautiful gardens with plenty of vegetables to eat. And we are planting trees to reforest the land." (Deforestation in Haiti has caused soil erosion, flooding and damage to the land which reduces the number of crops that farmers can grow.)

By partnering with CRS, Jeanne and others in Haiti care for God's wounded creation and provide food security for themselves and others.

How do we make sense of the tragedy in Haiti? Perhaps, such suffering will always be beyond our comprehension, but it is not beyond our compassion. We can respond to the Gospel call to feed the hungry:

• By helping the Haitian people repair God's Creation by planting new gardens.
• By breathing hope through our prayers into people who are dispirited.
• By helping the Haitian people to wrest bread from stony rubble and degraded soil

Second Sunday of Lent

March 20, 2011

"The Lord said to Abram: ‘Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you." (Genesis 12:1)

Land has always been a sign of God's blessing. But there's land and then there's land. Agustinus Koto Blolon lives on Flores Island, which is one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia. Nearly every year, food is scarce because the land is dry and sandy, and the people cannot grow enough food to feed their families. Traditional methods of farming provide only enough food to last from four to six months. In order to provide for his family the rest of the year, Agustinus sells cashews from his farm to buy food. He has never been able to save money for his family.

Catholic Relief Services works to educate farmers like Agustinus about new methods that will improve harvests, as well as marketing strategies that will yield better prices for crops. Local farmers are now cooperating with one another to sell their crops together and therefore increase the purchase price of their produce. They have begun to save money for their families.

Today's Gospel describes the glorious transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of his followers. That glory is the destiny of all who follow Christ. It is a destiny that is only accomplished through a selfless and sacrificial love. In today's letter to Timothy, St. Paul writes: "Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God." The grand and glorious vision that God had for Abram and his family now is ours: "All communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." By helping local farmers, such as Agustinus, CRS — and all who support CRS — are living out the Catholic social teaching principle of Option for the Poor and are seeking to transform situations of de-humanizing poverty into life-giving opportunities. "The human person fully alive is the glory of God." (St. Irenaeus

Third Sunday of Lent

March 27, 2011

"In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbling against Moses, saying, ‘Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?'" (Exodus 17:3-7) The situation in the desert was so vexing that the people began to long for a return to slavery.

A key tenet of Catholic social teaching is the promotion of the dignity of work and the rights of workers. The ability to work and to earn a livelihood is a right of all people. All workers have the right to a fair wage, to organize themselves, and to work in good conditions.

Boubacar Diao lives in Galouel, a village in the south of Senegal. He is a traditional bread baker. CRS and its partner Caritas Senegal have helped Boubacar and others through the organization of a microfinance community. By participating in this project, Boubacar can access small loans to buy flour and other supplies. He is now able to work throughout the year, save money and send his children to school. He has been able to pay off his original loan and plans to expand his business.

In today's Gospel, Jesus says: "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work." (John 4:34) We cooperate with God's will and work by helping others to realize their rights as workers and to enjoy the dignity inherent in their labor. That work, in Christ, is our bread

Fourth Sunday of Lent

April 3, 2011

"You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth." (Ephesians 5: 8-9)

The man blind from birth was healed by Christ and became a light pointing the way to Christ. This is our story as well: to move from blindness to sight, darkness to light, unawareness to awareness…and to draw others into that movement.

Catholic social teaching tells us that human beings are not only sacred as children of God, but also are social as members of community. How we participate in our family and community, from our daily actions to our policy decisions, affects every person. The coming to sight, the coming to the light, the coming into awareness of one person affects the whole community.

By working with women to improve health services in Honduras, CRS is living out the Catholic social teaching principle of community and participation. Reina Matilde Vazquez is a mother of seven children. She grows corn and beans to support her family. When her last child was born, she experienced dangerous complications and nearly died. Medical services were provided for her by CRS. She continues to attend health meetings and serves on the Emergency Committee, helping others as a way to "give back" for the care she received. She was enlightened in her darkest moment; now she is a light for others.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

April 10, 2011

Jesus was deeply troubled as he approached the tomb of his friend, Lazarus. "He wept." Whenever and wherever God sees death, he is troubled; God acts! He speaks powerful, life-giving words: "Lazarus, come out!" And then to those in attendance: "Untie him and let him go." Jesus calls us by name. He tells us to come out of our former "lives," marked as they are by death. He commands us to untie those who are in bondage so that they too might share the fullness of life. The gift we have received, we give as a gift. (Matthew 10:8)

Catholic social teaching reminds us that we must take responsibility to protect the rights of all people. These rights include the right to life, food, shelter, education, and employment, along with political and cultural rights.

We see that teaching in action in Kenya. CRS works with the Ministry of Education in Kenya to help orphans and vulnerable children access high quality learning opportunities through the Education for Marginalized Children (EMACK) program. Children like Esther Nyawa are, in a sense, bound by their circumstances. Esther's grandfather was unable to buy school uniforms and supplies for her and her brother. They stood out in class as poor orphans; the shame they felt made it difficult for them to concentrate on their studies. Their grandfather learned about EMACK and now the children have received uniforms, book bags and other supplies. They are proud to go to school. Esther studies hard and hopes to become a doctor some day.

"The Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead," (Romans 8: 11) does indeed dwell in us. We have been given the power, in Christ, to call our brothers and sisters out of the bondage of death into new life.

Charitable Giving Strengthens Parish Finances

What is the financial effect on parishes whose members give to CRS and other charities? Intuitively, you would expect a decrease in the amount of available funds given to the parish. In fact, precisely the opposite is true.

According to a Faith and Philanthropy study, households that give to religious congregations can be divided into two groups: those that give to congregations only and those that give to both congregations and other causes.

The first group—that gives to congregations alone—gives an annual average of $1,154 and account for 6.3 percent of annual giving.

And the second group—households that give to both religious and other organizations—gives an average of $2,247 per year, accounting for 81.2 percent of all giving.

According to the study, "households that give to both their congregations and other organizations give more to their congregations than do those that give only to their congregations ($1,391 compared to $1,154)."

Source: Faith and Philanthropy: The Connection Between Charitable Behavior and Giving to Religion, published by The Independent Sector (Washington, DC), 2002