Catholic Relief & Charity

UPDATED HHS delays, but does not change, rule on contraceptive coverage
Jan 20 2012
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has turned down repeated requests from Catholic schools, charitable organizations and bishops to revise its religious exemption to the requirement that all health plans cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge.

Natural disasters in 2011 prompt outpouring of charity amid devastation
Dec 31 2011
WASHINGTON – Natural disasters around the world and all across the United States this year prompted prayers, charitable giving and outreach amid unthinkable destruction.

Bishops’ concerns rise over growing infringements on religious liberty
Dec 28 2011
WASHINGTON – Concerns that religious liberty is being eroded by government action and policymaking prompted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to open a campaign in 2011 to head off what they consider dangers to the rights of people of faith and conscience.

Hackett looks back on ‘adrenaline-filled’ career helping those in need
Dec 27 2011
BALTIMORE – When Ken Hackett graduated from Boston College with a business degree in 1968, he expected to work in the corporate world, handling big money accounts, maybe at the phone company that employed his dad.

Economic hardship hits nearly all, from individuals to nations
Dec 11 2011
WASHINGTON – It’s not new, but it’s still news: The economy remains in a funk. Not just in the United States, but it has spread to many nations around the world.

HHS defends decision on funding trafficking victims program to Congress
Dec 02 2011
WASHINGTON – A U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops program aiding victims of human trafficking was denied funding after its administrators declined to propose alternatives to a government requirement that female victims receive “the full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care,” a Department of Health and Human Services official told a congressional committee.

U.S. bishops find Iraqi Christians want return to peace, meaningful jobs
Oct 14 2011
WASHINGTON – Iraqis want a return to peace, security and stability and the chance to secure meaningful employment, said two U.S. bishops who traveled to Baghdad in a demonstration of the American Catholic Church’s solidarity with the country’s violence-weary Christians.

Catholic organizations, universities place ad objecting to HHS mandate
Oct 13 2011
WASHINGTON – An unusual coalition of national Catholic organizations and universities took to the pages of two Capitol Hill publications Oct. 11 to protest the Obama administration’s plan to include contraceptives and sterilization among the mandated “preventive services” for women under the new health reform law.

Horn of Africa risks ‘lost generation’ due to famine, says cardinal
Oct 09 2011
VATICAN CITY – Not only are millions of lives at risk in the Horn of Africa due to hunger and drought, those who escape the famine then risk becoming a lost generation due to a severe lack of stability, education and resources, said a top Vatican official.

Dolores Hope dies at age 102; was supporter of numerous Catholic causes
Sep 21 2011
LOS ANGELES – Dolores Hope, a lifelong Catholic who was the widow of comedian Bob Hope and an entertainer in her own right, died Sept. 19 at age 102 at her home in Toluca Lake outside of Los Angeles.

New Orleans Catholic Charities gets $15 million for oil spill victims
Sep 20 2011
NEW ORLEANS - Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of New Orleans has received the largest single grant in its history - $15 million from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation - to oversee a collaborative of nonprofit organizations that will provide direct assistance, counseling and job force training to coastal Louisiana fishing families affected by the 2010 BP oil spill.

Parish serves as shelter for victims displaced by Texas wildfires
Sep 08 2011
WASHINGTON – Ascension Parish in Bastrop, Texas, has been serving as a shelter and a nerve center for relief efforts related to the ongoing Texas wildfires that have struck the state.

9/11 costs hard to count – in lives, dollars, rights or security
Aug 21 2011
WASHINGTON – Quantifying the costs of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States is a bit like trying to get your hands around the ocean.

Aid network wants probe into CIA’s vaccination program in Pakistan
Aug 10 2011
BANGALORE, India – A network of charities working in Pakistan wants the U.S. government to investigate a short-lived CIA-run vaccination clinic allegedly used for counterterrorism and intelligence-gathering purposes.

Woo set to shepherd continuing growth of CRS with business expertise
Jul 10 2011
WASHINGTON – Eight years ago Carolyn Woo was like many Catholics when it came to knowing about the work of Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services.