http://crs.org/about_us/newsroom/ With a global staff of over 4,000 in 98 countries, CRS is your source for information on the latest issues facing the world's poorest countries and its citizens. Our experts can provide you with detailed information on current global crises and CRS advocacy priorities, and our communications professionals are based throughout the world to provide immediate updates in emergencies and easy access to field staff. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:04:00 EST http://crs.org/feed/crs-logo.gif http://crs.org/newsroom/ http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802285.htm Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST As protests over rising food costs spread around the globe, experts warn that high prices are here to stay, and Catholic bishops are calling for governments to take emergency measures to keep their poorest citizens from going hungry. The price increases are fueled by a variety of factors that "are all coming together at once," said Lisa Kuennen, director of the public resource group at Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802285.htm http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802286.htm Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST Calculating the exact impact of biofuel production on food price hikes is difficult. Despite the attention to biofuels as a factor in recent price increases, it probably had less of an impact than drought and other factors, said Lisa Kuennen of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802286.htm http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.congo18apr18,0,5793626.story Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST When Mukwege opens the doors at Panzi Hospital, he knows that at the end of the day, 10 women lucky enough to be alive will have been counseled and had surgery for their injuries. Many others, however, never make the trip to the doctor. http://crs.orghttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.congo18apr18,0,5793626.story http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_8951910 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST It had been months since she and her husband, Anselm, arrived as volunteers for Catholic Relief Services in the West African nation and they had grown accustomed to the hunger, poverty and daily funerals in the town. But the sound of a child laughing stopped them in their tracks. http://crs.orghttp://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_8951910 http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/498266.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST Catholic Relief Services got a request last week from its partner, Missionaries of Charity in Gonvaives, Haiti, for more money to feed an additional 2,000 people. Currently, the charity feeds 1,200 people a month with lentils, wheat, cooking oil and corn, but it's facing more demand. The Catholic Relief Services is appealing for private donations to meet the short-term demands of more food, and long-term demands of more local food production, organizers said. http://crs.orghttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/498266.html http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-17-voa1.cfm Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST Haitians who live on less than two dollars a day rely on food aid and other assistance from abroad. Catholic Relief Services is one of several organizations that seeks to aid working poor, handicapped and other residents. http://crs.orghttp://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-17-voa1.cfm http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/Aid-Worker-Reflects-on-Catholic-Relief-in-Africa-as-Pope-visits-US.cfm Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST Lori Kunze, CRS deputy director for East Africa, says her organization is involved in various anti-poverty and humanitarian programs throughout Africa, including initiatives aimed at providing people with access to clean water, good agricultural practices and emergency relief. But Kunze says "by far the largest" of CRS projects in Africa is its response to the continent's HIV/AIDS pandemic in six of the countries worst affected. http://crs.orghttp://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/Aid-Worker-Reflects-on-Catholic-Relief-in-Africa-as-Pope-visits-US.cfm http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN14377372 Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST A deepening global food crisis requires not only greater funding for food aid going to hungry nations, but long-term investment to improve agriculture productivity, especially in the developing world, officials and aid groups said on Monday. http://crs.orghttp://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN14377372 http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5geZrL5OB_kHM3gx_HW4bPRSgT3YwD9018D200 Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST As prices increase, desperation is spreading from the slums to Haiti's working poor, part of the impetus for this week's demonstrations, said Bill Canny of Catholic Relief Services. http://crs.orghttp://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5geZrL5OB_kHM3gx_HW4bPRSgT3YwD9018D200 http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801917.htm Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST Mark Schnellbaecher, Middle East regional director for the U.S. bishops' Catholic Relief Services, described the situation as the "flight of moderation" from Iraq because the refugees are Iraq's educated and middle class. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801917.htm http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/483599.html Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:04:00 EST More than two million Iraqi refugees are struggling to survive outside Iraq, the bulk of them in neighboring Jordan and Syria. Only a small percentage are rich former Baathist supporters of Saddam Hussein. Most are middle-class Iraqis, including thousands of Christians, who were 'ethnically cleansed' from urban neighborhoods and forced to flee for their lives. http://crs.orghttp://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/483599.html http://www.sandiego.edu/usdmag/?p=485 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EST Peace is a precious commodity. Especially in a time of war and conflict, an act of peace - even on the smallest scale - brings a sense of hope. http://crs.orghttp://www.sandiego.edu/usdmag/?p=485 http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-sudan-darfur-food.html Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EST Securing long-term funding for humanitarian flights in Sudan is essential, 14 international aid agencies said in a joint statement issued on Friday. The agencies -- which include CARE Sudan, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam International -- said that they rely on the WFP's air service to help them deliver aid to "many of the most inaccessible, insecure and poverty-stricken areas of Sudan." http://crs.orghttp://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-sudan-darfur-food.html http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801526.htm Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EST Leaders of the religious congregations working in eastern Congo's Katanga province said they "cannot remain silent" in the face of "all kinds of violence, repeated cases of sexual abuse, and the total lack of respect for the lives of our brothers and sisters." http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801526.htm http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=726538 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EST There's a miracle happening in Africa right now, and I've had the good fortune to see it. http://crs.orghttp://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=726538 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022904029.html?referrer=emailarticle Sat, 01 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EST The U.S. government's humanitarian relief agency will significantly scale back emergency food aid to some of the world's poorest countries this year because of soaring global food prices, and the U.S. Agency for International Development is drafting plans to reduce the number of recipient nations, the amount of food provided to them, or both, officials at the agency said. http://crs.orghttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022904029.html?referrer=emailarticle http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/29/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Iraqi-Refugees.php Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST Lebanon on Friday released 13 Iraqi citizens detained for staying illegally in the country, following mediation by the U.N. refugee agency and a Christian aid group, in a move expected to lead to further releases. http://crs.orghttp://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/29/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Iraqi-Refugees.php http://www.thefloridacatholic.org/pt/2008_pt/2008_ptarticles/20080222_pt_rice_bowl.php Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:02:00 EST The third-graders in Christina Myers' class at St. John the Evangelist School don't know a whole lot about the daily lives of children in the faraway countries of Guatemala, India, Mali, Haiti and Cameroon that this year's Operation Rice Bowl focuses on, but they can really relate to not having access to utilities, food, clean water and shelter. http://crs.orghttp://www.thefloridacatholic.org/pt/2008_pt/2008_ptarticles/20080222_pt_rice_bowl.php http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801117.htm Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST When Col. Pedro Soria walked into his first seminar on peace-building, his classmates eyed him suspiciously, wondering if the Philippine army officer was there to spy on them. But Soria stayed for the two-week course, winning the confidence of his fellow students and helping launch a quiet revolution with the Philippine military. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801117.htm http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801008.htm Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST A church-run training program for rural doctors in the Democratic Republic of Congo has helped ease the plight of women in the war-torn eastern region where sexual violence is common, an aid worker said. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801008.htm http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1203540611135290.xml&coll=1 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST Hunger now has a face for many students at St. Scholastica Academy in Covington. On Feb. 11, Thomas Awiapo of Ghana, in West Africa, spoke to the girls, along with some students from Pope John Paul II High School in Slidell. http://crs.orghttp://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1203540611135290.xml&coll=1 http://cbs3.com/video/?id=52876@kyw.dayport.com Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST Pat Ciarrocchi talks to Arlene Flaherty of Catholic Relief Services about the plight of refugees in Iraq. http://crs.orghttp://cbs3.com/video/?id=52876@kyw.dayport.com http://www.catholicexplorer.com/explore4325/atd/operation-rice-bowl-is-the-other-super-bowl.shtml Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST The national gridiron competition between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants Feb. 3 might have monopolized the conversation in many households, but it was briefly intercepted by another bowl among families at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox. Instead of passing around bowls of chips, the parish's peace and social justice committee distributed cardboard bowl-shaped containers for donations to Operation Rice Bowl, which alleviates poverty locally and globally. Scorecards were replaced with calendars, offering education about the world's poor and suggesting activities to assist them. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicexplorer.com/explore4325/atd/operation-rice-bowl-is-the-other-super-bowl.shtml http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800755.htm Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:02:00 EST Thousands of people who fled Chad to neighboring Cameroon after rebel fighting in early February are in a desperate situation without any infrastructure to support them, said a spokesman for the U.S. bishops' Catholic Relief Services. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800755.htm http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2008/02/08/30000_find_safety_little_comfort_in_cameroon/ Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST "The situation in Kousseri is really quite serious," Jennifer Nazaire, the representative for Catholic Relief Services in Cameroon, said Wednesday. "Chadians are pouring out of N'Djamena, and there's little set up to receive them at the moment. The Catholic Church in Kousseri, the local government, United Nations, and aid agencies are all scrambling to work out temporary and longer-term measures to host people." http://crs.orghttp://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2008/02/08/30000_find_safety_little_comfort_in_cameroon/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020400251.html Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:02:00 EST Thousands of residents poured out of N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, on Monday as clashes between rebel and government forces cooled after two days of combat, according to reports from the besieged city. "We have a lot of injured and dead people in town," said Christophe Droeven, Chad representative for the aid group Catholic Relief Services. He spoke from Belgium, to which he was evacuated over the weekend, but has kept in close contact with staff members in Chad. http://crs.orghttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020400251.html http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=182666 Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:01:00 EST The country representative for Catholic Relief Services in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza is Tom Garafalo. http://crs.orghttp://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=182666 http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/220414 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:01:00 EST More than 500 people are expected to attend the 46th annual Southwest Liturgical Conference Study Week, which is being held in Tucson for the first time. The theme is "Eucharist and Justice: Walking in Charity and Peace." Speakers at the gathering will include Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Archbishop of Atlanta Wilton Gregory and the Rev. Maxwell E. Johnson, a professor of liturgical studies at the University of Notre Dame. http://crs.orghttp://www.azstarnet.com/metro/220414 http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL14664788.html Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:01:00 EST The death toll in Kenya has risen to about 600 from more than two weeks of unrest since President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election, aid agencies said on Monday. http://crs.orghttp://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL14664788.html http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080111/FOREIGN/274544071/1003 Fri, 11 Jan 2008 04:01:00 EST Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, visited the Latin monastery in Gaza City yesterday while President Bush met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Cardinal McCarrick sat with the Rev. Manuel Musallem, leader of the Catholic community in Gaza, local and U.S. officials from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and other community members on a pastoral visit. http://crs.orghttp://washingtontimes.com/article/20080111/FOREIGN/274544071/1003 http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800114.htm Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:01:00 EST Bishop Cornelius Arap Korir of Eldoret told Catholic News Service things gradually were taking shape as agencies such as the United Nations, the Kenyan government, the Red Cross and other churches were joining Catholic relief agencies in sending financial and material assistance. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800114.htm http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/dec/30/road_mission/ Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:12:00 EST Simpson-Hebert is the regional health adviser for Catholic Relief Services. Based in Ethiopia, she said her role is to help enhance health programs that reach communities who are most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. http://crs.orghttp://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/dec/30/road_mission/ http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/12/30/helena_top/a011230_01.txt Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:12:00 EST Seated in the comfort of his office at the Helena Diocese, Bishop George Thomas smiled when reflecting upon his recent trip to Senegal, where he received a crash course in micro-financing and spent World AIDS Day visiting AIDS-infected patients. The international organization offers micro-loans to impoverished African women, creates dialogue between Christians and Muslims, and promotes AIDS education and care to those inflicted with the virus. http://crs.orghttp://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/12/30/helena_top/a011230_01.txt http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0707403.htm Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:12:00 EST More and more children in Central America are being raised by people other than their parents, DeLorey told Catholic News Service. Those who are raised by extended families miss direct contact with their parents, she said, while those who are left with neighbors may end up on the street or in gangs. http://crs.orghttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0707403.htm http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/main_line_delaware/nabes/20071216_Student_Spotlight_2.html Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:12:00 EST As a Catholic Relief Services intern, Bangs, 22, traveled to Ethiopia for nine weeks this summer to research the progress of a Nike Foundation program aimed at empowering adolescent girls in the Tigray and Oromia regions. http://crs.orghttp://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/main_line_delaware/nabes/20071216_Student_Spotlight_2.html http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=697010 Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:12:00 EST Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, who was appointed board chairman of a major Catholic relief agency this week, has a lot on his plate these days in addition to his normal duties as archbishop and a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. http://crs.orghttp://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=697010