Catholic Relief Services is the US Catholic community's international humanitarian agency, delivering emergency relief and long-term development programmes in more than 100 countries since 1943.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States as War Relief Services, it was established to assist refugees and survivors of the Second World War. More than 80 years on, it delivers lifesaving emergency assistance and long-term development support to people in need in more than 100 countries, with its headquarters in the United States.
The agency's work spans humanitarian emergency response, public health, agriculture and food security, education, microfinance and financial inclusion, peacebuilding, and refugee and displacement assistance. Its programmes include emergency relief in response to major disasters, health initiatives aimed at fighting disease among vulnerable populations, and agriculture support delivered alongside local communities. Education and microfinance programmes form part of its longer-term development work, while peacebuilding initiatives focus on nurturing just and peaceful communities.
CRS provides assistance without regard to race, religion or nationality. Its stated values include a commitment to cherishing, preserving and upholding the dignity of all human life, and it describes its approach as working alongside local communities to create lasting change, drawing on both expertise and compassion in serving the most vulnerable. The organisation is motivated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and remains rooted in the Catholic community of the United States.
