Bishops call for ‘vital’ donations to Catholic Relief Services after federal aid freeze

Catholic Relief Services distributes food for school children at one of the schools in the Department of Totonicapán, Guatemala, with the help of parent volunteers. / Credit: Catholic Relief Services

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 11, 2025 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

The U.S. bishops are highlighting what they describe as the “very urgent significance” of this year’s annual Catholic Relief Services (CRS) collection due to the loss earlier this year of federal aid for refugees and migrants. 

“Each year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) comforts and assists people worldwide who suffer from war, natural disasters, violent persecution, or extreme poverty,” the bishops said in a Monday statement.

“That work is possible because of contributions to the Catholic Relief Services Collection,” they said. 

Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on National Collections, noted that the U.S. government earlier this year “abruptly suspended funding for its refugee resettlement program and then terminated cooperative agreements for such work, impacting thousands of refugees that the government has placed in charge of the USCCB for resettlement assistance.” 

CRS has been scrambling for funding since the Trump administration in January ordered major cuts to foreign aid and refugee programs. The USCCB previously urged Catholics to take action by asking members of Congress to halt the cuts.

“And with similarly abrupt stop-work orders on foreign humanitarian relief work, aid organizations such as Catholic Relief Services are unable to sustain their work overseas, bringing food, lifesaving medicine, and daily necessities to people in need,” Mueggenborg said.

CRS said in January that U.S. foreign aid “provides lifesaving assistance in emergencies and supports long-term development programs that help families and communities build resilience, reducing the need for humanitarian aid in the future.”

As well, “because of the funding suspension, the USCCB and its local partner organizations have begun laying off dozens of employees, and this has irreparably damaged the USCCB’s partnerships with local groups and its ability to provide refugee assistance in the future,” the bishops said.

The USCCB said the funds from the collection will help Catholic Relief Services to “provide disaster relief and economic development initiatives among the developing world’s poorest people.”

In addition, the collection will help the pastoral needs of Catholics across cultures and fuel advocacy and outreach on behalf of the poor. The bishops said the collection will also assist victims of war and persecution who are fleeing to the U.S. and will provide legal aid to refugees and migrants.

“Donations to this year’s collection will be vital to the Catholic initiatives to reveal Christ’s love to those in need,” the statement concluded.

The collection will be taken up on the weekend of March 29–30.