Catholic Relief Services

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. CRS's executive director during this period (1947–1976) was Bishop Edward E. Swanstrom.[4] One of the key relief workers in those early years was Father Fabian Flynn, CP, who directed their efforts in Germany, Austria, and Hungary.[5]

As the agency grew, its programming focus widened, adapting to meet the needs of the post-World War II Roman 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.[4]

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.

CRS programming includes: promoting human development by responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty and nurturing peaceful and just societies

• emergency relief in the wake of disasters and civil conflict
• long-term development programming in the areas of agriculture, water, community health, education, health, HIV/AIDS, micro finance and peace building.

Serving Catholics in the United States as they live their faith in solidarity with their brothers and sisters around the world

• Villanova University: On May 18, 2008, the Rev. Peter Donahue, President of Villanova, conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa on Ken Hackett for his work as President of Catholic Relief Services. Mr. Hackett was also selected to give the commencement address to the Class of 2008.
• University of Notre Dame: On May 20, 2007, CRS President Ken Hackett received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree and was among nine people recognized by Notre Dame in the fields of national and international politics, education, medicine, the arts, humanitarian work and the Catholic Church.
• 2007 Aurora Award: CRS earned a Gold Award from the Independent Film and Video Competition for our "Water for Life" documentary video, which explores why more than 1 billion people do not have adequate access to clean water.
• 2006 Pakistan Star of Sacrifice: On September 21, 2006, CRS was awarded the prestigious Sitara-i-Eisaar (Star of Sacrifice) honoring the agency's comprehensive and timely response to the devastating October 8, 2005 Pakistan earthquake. CRS was among the first agencies to respond, providing emergency supplies, shelter, education, water and sanitation materials, and livelihood support.
• 2005 Caritas Flame of Hope Award: Catholic Charities saluted CRS' work around the world in bringing the very core of Christianity to millions suffering from natural disasters as well as human cruelty and injustice.
• Knight Commander of Saint Gregory the Great: On October 31, 2004, CRS president Ken Hackett received the Knight Commander of Saint Gregory the Great medal, one of the highest papal honors. The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, Maryland, and recognized Hackett's outstanding service to the papacy and the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
• Millennium Challenge Corporation: On July 13, 2004, following the recommendation of Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, President George W. Bush nominated CRS President Ken Hackett to sit on the Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors. Hackett was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate. The Millennium Challenge Corporation is charged with improving the accountability and impact of foreign assistance.

• In April 2008, theologian Germain Grisez, a critic of Pope Francis,[22] noted that in 2007, Catholic Relief Services had established policy on its HIV related projects which included the provision of "full and accurate information" on condoms. CRS's position paper states that "CRS-supported projects should provide full and accurate, age-appropriate information about HIV prevention strategies including abstinence, fidelity and condoms in all of its HIV projects. However, these projects cannot purchase, distribute or promote condoms with funds obtained from CRS." The policy paper also said that "All information provided about the use of condoms must be medically and scientifically accurate and include the public health benefits and failure rates of condom use."
• In the same article, Grisez said that CRS included a flipchart in its educational materials which promoted condom use. A cover-letter from CRS's Chief of Party, Jared M. Hoffman claims that "The comprehensive and accurate information on prevention contained in this material is consistent with CRS policy, and we are confident that the flipchart will be useful in all settings, requiring only minor adaptations to ensure cultural competence.” However, even though Hoffman claims that the flipchart is consistent with CRS policy, he also notes that "“CRS has chosen not to include the CRS or AIDSRelief logo on the flipchart, due to the potential sensitivity of the information contained in these materials among Church partners.” Not only does the flipchart promote condom use as a means of preventing the transmission of HIV (in contradiction with Catholic moral teaching), but it also promotes artificial birth control, also in conflict with Catholic moral teaching. The flipchart says on page 132, "If the client and partner do not want to have a baby, explain that you can give them information about family planning choices."
• August 2, 2012, Red State noted that CRS is a dues-paying member of COREgroup, an organization that pushes contraception.
• On August 14, Red State also said that CRS is a dues-paying member and on the executive committee of MEDiCAM, an organization that pushes contraception and abortion in Cambodia. In fact, a CRS regional director was a member of the planning committee for MEDiCAM when it created a policy paper for 2011 indicating the intention to train abortion-providers.
• In 2013, American Life League proved that CRS provided $64 million to organizations distributing contraception, committing abortion, and performing sterilizations.
• In January 2015, CRS was discovered to have been involved in the implementation in a Planned Parenthood style sex education program called "My Changing Body." Even though CRS responded to the allegations, the response from CRS failed to address some of the more serious aspects of the claims.
• In March 2015, Population Research Institute and the Lepanto Institute published a joint investigative report on CRS's PEPFAR-funded project in Kenya called "Support and Assistance to Indigenous Implementing Agencies (SAIDIA)". According to this report, not only did CRS implement a contraception-promoting program in Kenya called Healthy Choices II, but when confronted with this information, CRS's response was to collaborate with PEPFAR to have the public record altered so as to expunge any reference to Healthy Choices II under CRS's project. CRS immediately responded to the report, denying everything and questioning the methodology of the field investigator. However, documentation with CRS's letterhead obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that CRS's denials are patently false.
• Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act noted that CRS implemented a condom-promoting program called Shuga. CRS responded to this allegation as well by confirming that "The SAIDIA FY2011 annual report to CDC correctly notes that the video was used as part of the abstinence and be faithful (AB) activities in FY2011, but stopped at the end of quarter three when CRS learned the materials were being used and were not appropriate for use within our programming." However, CRS's claims to have protested against the use of Shuga are again contradicted by documents bearing CRS's letterhead which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. According to these FOIA documents, CRS ended the Shuga program, not because it was morally objectionable, but because it was no longer implementing non-evidence based behavioral interventions. Shuga was discontinued along with at least seven other programs. In fact, in April 2012, CRS submitted to PEPFAR its continuation grant application for year five of the SAIDIA project. On page 342 of the FOIA documents is a very clear statement from CRS about how it is considering both Shuga I and II for year five of the SAIDIA project. CRS said in its grant application to PEPFAR, “SAIDIA is considering Shuga I and II to help address the gap particularly in ages 17-19 years. Shuga I and II addresses issues of multiple concurrent partnership, peer pressure, alcohol and substance use and status knowledge among youth.” Not only does this contradict CRS's claim that they “informed CDC that SAIDIA would not use this video within our abstinence and fidelity work,” but it calls into question its last line about continually reviewing and adjusting programs to ensure that they are in line with Catholic teaching.
• In October 2016, the Lepanto Institute published a 58 page report detailing CRS's participation in the distribution of 2.25 million units of abortifacient contraception and condoms in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• 2011-2014 American Institute of Philanthropy: Catholic Relief Services has been named a top-rated charity and given the rating of A or higher by AIP for efficiently using the majority of funds toward programming versus fundraising.
• 2011-2014 Better Business Bureau/Wise Giving Alliance: CRS was found to meet all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability, which take into account an organization's governance, financial accountability, truthfulness and transparency. The September 2011 audit found that only 3% of the CRS's expenses were for administration, leaving 4% for fundraising and 93% for program costs.[2]
• November 2011 Chronicle of Philanthropy: CRS was ranked 51st out of 400 charities in Chronicle of Philanthropy's Annual Top 400 Philanthropy List.
• November 2011 NonProfit Times: CRS was ranked 23rd out of the 100 best charities reviewed by the publication.
• 2012[23] awarded CRS as 3 out of 4 stars for utilizing 93.3% of funds to program costs.

• USCCB
• Catholic Charities

• Egan, Eileen. Catholic Relief Services: The Beginning Years. NY: Catholic Relief Services, 1988. ISBN 0-945356-00-5
• Egan, Eileen. For Whom There is No Room: Scenes from the Refugee World. NY: Paulist Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8091-0473-3
• USAID 1994. Initial environmental examination for the Catholic Relief Service Food Transition Strategy Project in the Philippines. USAID, Washington, DC.

• Official website
• Better Business Bureau/Wise Giving Alliance Charity Report on Catholic Relief Services
• Article titled Catholic Relief Services: Helping Children Since World War II