Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
A member of Caritas International, the worldwide network of Catholic humanitarian agencies, CRS provides relief in emergencies and helps people in the developing world break the cycle of poverty through community-based, sustainable development initiatives as well as Peacebuilding. Assistance is based solely on need, not race, creed or nationality. Catholic Relief Services is headquartered in the Posner Building in Baltimore, Maryland, while operating numerous field offices on five continents. CRS has approximately 5,000 employees around the world. The agency is governed by a board of directors consisting of 13 clergy and 10 lay people.
As of February 11, 2025, the organization has a $1.5 billion budget, about half of it funded by USAID.
History
Initially founded as the War Relief Services, the agency's original purpose was to aid the refugees of war-torn Europe. A confluence of events in the mid 1950s—the end of colonial rule in many countries, the continuing support of the American Catholic community and the availability of food and financial resources from the U.S. Government—helped CRS expand operations. Its name was officially changed to Catholic Relief Services in 1955, and over the next 10 years it opened 25 country programs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In Asia, CRS supplied food rations to the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces. CRS's executive director during this period was Bishop Edward E. Swanstrom. One of the key relief workers in those early years was Father Fabian Flynn, CP, who directed their efforts in Germany, Austria, and Hungary.As the agency grew, its programming focus widened, adapting to meet the needs of the post-World War II Catholic Church and the circumstances of the people it encountered. In the 1970s and 1980s, programs that began as simple distributions of food, clothing and medicines to the poor evolved toward socio-economic development. By the late 1980s, health care, nutrition education, micro enterprise and agriculture had become major focuses of CRS programming.
In the mid-1990s, CRS went through a significant institutional transformation. In 1993, CRS officials embarked on a strategic planning effort to clarify the mission and identity of the agency. Soon after, the 1994 massacre in Rwanda – in which more than 800,000 people were killed – led CRS staff to reevaluate how they implemented their relief and development programs, particularly in places experiencing or at high risk of ethnic conflict. After a period of institutional reflection, CRS embraced a vision of global solidarity and incorporated a justice-centered focus into all of its programming, using Catholic social teaching as a guide.
All programming is evaluated according to a set of social justice criteria called the Justice Lens. In terms of programming, CRS now evaluates not just whether its interventions are effective and sustainable, but whether they might have a negative impact on social or economic relationships in a community.
Activities
CRS programming promotes human development by:- providing emergency relief in the wake of disasters and civil conflict,
- fighting disease and poverty,
- nurturing peaceful and just societies,
- long-term development programming in the areas of agriculture, water, community health, education, health, HIV/AIDS, micro finance and peace building.
Overseas
- Agriculture – CRS immediate goal is to improve family well-being through agro-economic development and environmental stewardship. The long-term goal is to strengthen the capacity of local communities to take control of their own development.
- Education – CRS supports local communities and partners to provide the best education possible for the children living around the world. Currently, the organization has education programs in 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. These programs include early childhood development, providing school breakfast and lunches, and primary, secondary and higher education. In several countries, including Afghanistan and Egypt, CRS is particularly focused on improving the educational opportunities for refugees and girls, two groups who sometimes have their educational needs overlooked.
- Emergency Response – Natural and human-caused disasters disproportionately affect the lives of the poor. CRS works to ensure that disaster-affected populations are at least able to meet their basic needs and live a life with dignity. The agency works directly with affected communities and local partners to help restore and strengthen their pre-disaster capacities.
- Peace building – The agency's commitment to global solidarity led CRS to adopt peace building as an agency-wide priority. Peace building in this context is defined as the long-term project of building peaceful, stable communities and societies. CRS assembled a team of regional advisors and a headquarters-based technical staff to work with partners, and peace building projects were started in dozens of countries. Each summer, CRS conducts training programs for its staff and overseas partners at the Mindanao Peace Institute in the Philippines and at University of Notre Dame's Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. An increasing number of bishops from developing countries have attended these sessions.
- Youth – CRS believes that all youth, even those affected by poverty and surrounded by conflict, have the ability to become leaders and create change in their lives and communities. Together with local communities, partners, and governments, CRS helps youth around the world access quality education, learn good economic practices, strengthen their knowledge around agriculture, and become confident in their abilities to foster peace in their communities. CRS' YouthBuild program in Central America has already reached more than 20,000 youth and helped 40% of them find jobs in the local communities.
In the United States
Members of CRS Chapters also support Mission and Mobilization's new Lead the Way on Hunger and Lead the Way on Migration campaigns.
One of the oldest ways for U.S. Catholics to support the organization is through CRS Rice Bowl. Established in 1977, millions of parishioners, students, and teachers participate in CRS' Lenten program, which emphasizes prayer, fasting, learning, and giving. Materials offer daily prayers, recipes for simple meals and stories that teach about life in the developing world. The bowl itself, a symbol of both hunger and hope, is used to collect funds for those in need. Seventy-five percent of funds raised support development programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America - such as the provision of food, access to clean water and meeting other essential needs. The remaining twenty-five percent stays in the diocese for local poverty and hunger alleviation projects.
Catholic Relief Services serves as a leading member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a Washington D.C.–based coalition of over 400 major companies and NGOs that advocates for increased funding of American diplomatic and development efforts abroad.