As you hear about devastating natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and fires or man-made tragedies such as war and persecution, have you ever wondered how you can help? Next week, we will all have the opportunity to help as we join with all parishes throughout the country in taking up the annual collection for Catholic Relief Services.
When tsunamis recently struck Indonesia and the Philippines, CRS responded with much needed aid to millions of people who had lost their homes, families, farms, jobs and schools. Currently, CRS is assisting many of the unprecedented 71 million refugees who have had to flee their homelands due to war or religious or racial persecution. In Bangladesh – where 700,000 Rohingya have fled violence in Myanmar since August 2017 – 263,000 refugees are receiving support from CRS and other charitable organizations in the world’s largest refugee camp. In Lebanon and Jordan, CRS supports Syrian refugee families fleeing conflict in their homeland since 2011 with education and counseling for children who have missed years of school and have suffered severe stress. Throughout Europe, job training, language classes and community activities help refugees restart their lives. And in Uganda, CRS supports some of the 288,000 South Sudanese refugees with critical shelter, water and education. You may be familiar with some of these tragedies and you might have wondered how you can help; CRS is there to help in your name.
Catholic Relief Services is motivated by the example of Jesus Christ to ease suffering, provide development assistance, and foster charity and justice. As the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, CRS is governed by a board of directors comprising clergy, most of them bishops elected by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as religious and Catholic lay men and women. CRS maintains strict standards of efficiency, accountability and transparency: 92% of their expenditures go directly to programs.
Founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States to serve World War II survivors in Europe – many of whom had lost everything in the war – Catholic Relief Services has since then expanded in size to reach 136 million people in 110 countries on five continents. The mission of CRS is to assist impoverished and disadvantaged people, working in the spirit of Catholic social teaching to promote the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person. Although its mission is rooted in the Catholic faith, its operations serve people based solely on need, regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity. Within the United States, CRS engages Catholics to live their faith in solidarity with the poor and suffering people of the world. Worldwide, it provides much-needed assistance to millions of people in desperate situations.
Catholic Relief Services is a manifestation of love for our brothers and sisters around the globe by the Catholic community of the United States. It protects, defends and advances human life around the world by directly meeting basic needs and advocating solutions to injustice. CRS is a pro-life organization dedicated to preserving the sacredness and dignity of human life from conception to natural death. Every aspect of its work is to help life flourish. Its staff is firmly committed to the Church and its teaching.
As we hear Pope Francis remind us that “God’s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself ‘became poor’” (Misericordiae Vultus, §197), let us unite ourselves with Catholic Relief Services in reaching out to care for the poor around the world. I am confident that you will be generous in this important collection and that God will bless you for your generosity.
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).