WHY SHOULD I GIVE TO CRS RICE BOWL THIS LENT?

My experience of CRS!

Fr. Deogratias Ekisa 

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Services is an organization of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) that helps the poor and vulnerable abroad, on behalf of American Catholics.  They do outside the USA what "Catholic Charities" does within the USA, that is living out the teaching of Matthew 25.  CRS Rice Bowl their Lenten campaign that for 42 years raises funds for their work and invites Catholics like you and me to deepen out Lenten journey . 

My personal experience of CRS 

Several years ago, there was a huge landslide on the slopes of Mount Elgon, which is within my home diocese of Tororo in Uganda (see story here).  Besides the loss of life, thousands of people lost their homes, their crops, essentially everything.  At the invitation of my bishop, CRS joined other aid organizations to help with food, tents, water, medicines etc; but it was the only one that bore the name "Catholic." 

And yet despite the prominence of the word "Relief" in its name, CRS gives more than immediate relief aid.  CRS also does capacity building, that is helping people to help themselves.  For example, in one of the remote parishes of my diocese, they have just completed a program helping women improve their agricultural skills, to earn more income for the family from their garden farming.  About two years ago, they were also running a program for strengthening family life. 

The question of evangelizing 

Some friends have asked me if CRS, being a Catholic organization does any evangelizing and is not just another aid organization like the Red Cross. 

First, the marching orders given to CRS by the US bishops are much like the ones given by the Apostles in Acts 6 to the newly ordained Seven Deacons, to tend to the daily distribution of food to the widows and orphans, as they, the apostles concentrated on preaching the word of God.  The work of direct evangelizing, particularly through the preaching of the Word and celebrating the sacraments is done by the local dioceses and parishes.  The US Church supports that work through another organization that collects donations that are to be used primarily towards evangelization, namely, the Pontifical Mission Societies.  The US Bishops and CRS have the good sense not to usurp the role of the local churches, but only to support them.  And so, just like a Catholic school does not perform surgeries and a Catholic hospital teach mathematics, so CRS focuses on the mission given to it by the US Church. 

Secondly, in carrying out its proper mission of diakonia, CATHOLIC Relief services evangelizes indirectly.  When a hungry Muslim girl in a Syrian Refugee camp receives her daily food and medicine from an organization called "CATHOLIC Relief Services" she might begin to associate food and "Catholic."  And then when she grows up to know what Catholic means, what Jesus said will hopefully come to pass: "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn. 13:34).  CRS helps others, not because those helped are Catholic or to make them Catholic, but because CRS is Catholic. 

The question of Catholic Identity 

Questions have been also raised in some quarters about the Catholic identity of CRS.  The accusations can be broadly summarized into three groups. 

First, CRS has been accused of doings things that are contrary to Catholic teaching, e.g. the distribution of contraceptives.  The US Bishops have investigated these serious allegations and found no evidence for them.  You can see the Bishops' statements and other responses to these allegations here. 

Similar to the above allegation is that while CRS does not do these things itself, it cooperates with organizations and governments that do.  This situation is touched upon by moral principle of cooperation with evil.  This is a fairly complex principle to decipher, with distinctions between material and formal cooperation, immediate and mediate cooperation (for a fuller explanation see CCC 1868 and this article).  But the most important distinction is that between licit and illicit cooperation.  The Bishops have concluded that the cooperation of CRS with other organization does not amount to illicit cooperation with evil and that is sufficient for me.  Also, a few years ago CRS created an Advisory Committee on Catholic Identity, to help CRS evaluate the licitness of the relationships it enters with various groups.  I believe CRS is doing much more due diligence on this matter than most of us who shop at Walgreens and Walmart, without knowing if our shopping there constitutes illicit cooperation with evil. 

Secondly, an accusation to which CRS would pleads guilty as charged, but for good reason, is that some of its staff are not Catholic. 

• It is my understanding that since CRS has to supplement the roughly 40% of its budget that comes from Catholics (e.g. CRS Rice Bowl campaign) with funds from other sources like governments, those arrangements require that their hiring does not discriminate on the basis of religion.  This practice is similar to that of many other Catholic organizations like schools, hospitals etc. 
• Moreover, in some countries with very small Catholic populations, sometimes the best people for the job are non-Catholics.  During my visit to CRS headquarters recently, I was privileged to concelebrate Mass with an Iraqi Bishop. In our conversation it emerged that the Iraqi bishops had recommended to CRS to send as the CRS country representative, a Muslim Egyptian man with whom they had worked before, because he was best suited to their situation. 

Anyway, much like we do in other Catholic institutions in the USA, all CRS employees are trained in Catholic identity and are required to adhere to Catholic principles in their work. 

It is a personal decision 

And so, should you donate to CRS Rice Bowl or any of its other campaigns?  It is a personal decision you have to make in conscience.  The Lenten practice of almsgiving does not oblige a Catholic to give to a particular organization. 

But I hope I have given you enough information for the formation of your conscience.  Your decision should be based on these two points. 

• CRS is one of the institutionally embed ways of living out the Catholic Faith. 
• CRS, like the Church itself, is not without its defects and growing edges; but if we can remain in the Church, when it comes to CRS, let us not make the perfect become the enemy of the good.