Bishops' annual CRS Collection 'more vital than ever' amid wars and disasters overseas

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- The U.S. bishops' annual Catholic Relief Services Collection, which helps some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in need in the United States and worldwide, will be taken in most U.S. dioceses at Masses the weekend of March 14-15.

The collection benefits six agencies and offices affiliated with the Catholic Church, including CRS, the flagship international relief and development agency for the Catholic Church in the U.S.

"The Church in the United States was built on ministry among immigrants. We help all who are marginalized, including victims of war and disaster overseas. The Catholic Relief Services Collection combines all these kinds of assistance," said Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg of Reno, Nevada, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on National Collections.

"Our Lord tells us to love our neighbors -- those we know, those we don't and those we think are very different from us. The Catholic Relief Services Collection is one way that we show that love. Today it is more vital than ever," the bishop said in his March 2 statement.

The collection is also accepting online gifts at igivecatholic.org/story/USCCB-CRS.

Of nearly $13.5 million distributed from the collection in 2024, nearly $8 million went to CRS working in places affected by war and natural disaster, according to a USCCB news release.

The CRS Collection has become more critical in light of last year's deep cuts to humanitarian aid by the U.S. federal government that have left a chasm for the Catholic Church and other international aid agencies to fill.

In July 2025, the U.S. Agency for International Development effectively ceased to exist, with 85% of its programs cut, as a result of the cost-cutting efforts of tech titan Elon Musk, then head of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. Musk bragged about "feeding USAID into the woodchipper," but academic demographers have estimated the sudden loss of funding to groups carrying out humanitarian aid led to as many as 300,000 people dying within six months.

The Lancet, a peer-reviewed British medical journal published since 1823, estimated USAID assistance has saved more than 91 million lives, including that of 30 million children, over the past two decades. But it forecast that if USAID-funding levels were not restored, "a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030": 14.1 million people, with over 4.5 million being children younger than 5.

The other recipients of the CRS Collection are:

-- The Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., or CLINIC: provides training and support to a network of more than 400 Catholic and community-based immigration law providers in 49 states.

-- The USCCB Secretariat of Migration, formerly the Department of Migration and Refugee Services: assists dioceses in carrying out their ministries to newcomers, publishes educational resources, and promotes policies "that affirm the life and dignity of immigrants and refugees."

-- Two initiatives of the USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church: pastoral ministries to migrant workers, travelers and seafarers through its Subcommittee on the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers, and its Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs, which helps the Church address the unique pastoral needs across many boundaries of language and tradition.

-- The USCCB Secretariat of Justice and Peace: engages in advocacy on behalf of the poor around the world and works with policymakers and government officials to end violent international conflicts through its international justice and peace program. Created in early August 2024, the secretariat serves a number of USCCB committees, including the Committee on International Justice and Peace.

-- Holy Father's Relief Fund: helps Pope Leo XIV rush aid to areas of the world in crisis.

Bishop Mueggenborg said, "Together, these agencies help victims of war and natural disaster, support sustainable economic development overseas, advocate for international peace and human rights, help refugees and immigrants in the United States to obtain legal support, offer pastoral support to a wide variety of people who migrate for work and build cross-cultural understanding."