Catholic Relief Services receives share of $1.4 billion in aid to faith-based groups. Funding will help improve hospitals, clinics, and health networks in rural parts of Cameroon, Liberia, and Nigeria, working as part of a group of faith-based organizations, a CRS spokesperson said. Mothers with their children listen to a nurse giving advice at a hospital in Soa, Cameroon, on Jan. 22, 2024. Credit: Etienna Nsom/AFP via Getty Images August 18, 2026 at 6:30 PM ET The State Department has awarded $50 million to Catholic Relief Services as part of a $1.4 billion partnership with faith-based organizations around the world. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) will receive the funding through the State Department's Faith and Community Initiative (FCI) announced Aug. 6, alongside other international aid groups, including World Vision, Compassion International, and Samaritan's Purse. "CRS is so proud to be among the recipients of the new Faith and Community Initiative! We received $50 million in first-year funding to lead programming in Cameroon, Liberia, and Nigeria, working as part of a group of faith-based organizations," CRS spokesperson Brittany Wichtendahl said in a statement to EWTN News. "The funding will help improve hospitals, clinics, and the health networks in rural parts of the countries - where a lot of families have limited access to quality healthcare," she said. "This investment reflects a core strength of CRS' approach: working alongside trusted local Church, Caritas, and faith-based partners that are deeply rooted in the communities they serve." CRS' financial statements show that U.S. government grants routinely constituted 40% to 50% of total revenue in fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2025, and the 2026 federal grants to the U.S.-based international humanitarian nonprofit organization are only a fraction of the government funding CRS previously received. CRS' fiscal 2023 budget totaled $1.3 billion, rising to $1.4 billion in fiscal 2024 before dipping to $1.2 billion in fiscal 2025. The aid CRS is set to receive is part of $850 million the State Department earmarked for distribution among faith-based groups over the course of five years. The State Department also said an additional $570 million will be provided directly to faith-based hospitals and clinics under memorandums of understanding with country governments. The State Department said leveraging faith-based and community-run hospitals and clinics ensures that "at least 80% of resources go toward frontline health services that reach patients and clients while streamlining overhead and management costs, a significant increase from the 35% to 40% of resources that went to frontline health services in historical awards from the State Department." The latest aid package comes after CRS received $235 million in food aid from the State Department for programs in Sudan and Ethiopia in July. You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, its privacy practices, and how Theparishofallsaints is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review its Privacy Policy. Madalaine Elhabbal is a staff reporter for EWTN News based at the Washington, D.C. headquarters. See full bio

State Department provides funding for humanitarian aid for Cuba. Reading Time: 3 minutes Jul 22, 2026 With the award, Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Cuba will expand assistance to nearly 200,000 households on the island. By Gina Christian, OSV News (OSV News) - Catholic Relief Services is welcoming federal support that will help "significantly expand" humanitarian aid to Cuba, as the Caribbean nation battles multiple crises. CRS, the humanitarian and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced July 21 that it had received a $60 million award from the U.S. Department of State. The agency said the funding will enable it to partner with Caritas Cuba - which, like CRS, is part of Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church's global humanitarian network - to provide "emergency food and hygiene supplies to nearly 200,000 households, or more than half a million people," across Cuba. The award will also allow the two agencies to distribute "essential household items - including mattresses and blankets - to another 7,000 people who need them," said CRS in its news release. In a separate media note released the same day, the State Department said two of its officials had joined CRS staff in Miami July 21 "to send off the first flight of humanitarian relief" under Secretary of State Marco Rubio's $100 million commitment in aid to the Cuban people. The State Department said the flight contained "pre-packaged food and hygiene kits for up to 700 Cuban families," with the items set to be delivered by CRS "in partnership with the Catholic Church and Caritas Cuba on the ground." "The direct delivery of humanitarian commodities by local parish representatives in the island will ensure critical U.S. assistance reaches everyday Cubans in need, without any opportunity for regime diversion or theft," said the State Department. Aid to address hunger and basic needs. CRS said the new funding from the State Department "builds on" an "ongoing emergency response" launched by its team and its Caritas Cuba partners in the wake of 2025's Hurricane Melissa. That storm's "impact on infrastructure and essential services was widespread," according to a July 1 situation update from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The IFRC said that storm recovery "has been particularly challenging due to pre-existing structural vulnerabilities and the cumulative effects of prior disasters," such as the 2024 Hurricanes Oscar and Rafael, "from which many communities had not yet fully recovered." "Cuba has faced four consecutive years of significant shocks without a sustained recovery window, contributing to a marked deterioration in socioeconomic conditions," said the IFRC. Disease, along with infant and maternal mortality, has risen on the island, while food, water, healthcare, electricity and fuel resources have plunged. A 2026 U.S. blockade on oil imports to Cuba has intensified the crisis. CRS said in its July 21 press release that "families across the island continue to struggle with worsening food insecurity and hunger, prolonged fuel shortages and limited access to basic services." Sean Callahan, the agency's president and CEO, said families in Cuba face "growing hardship as they struggle to put food on the table, access clean water and meet other basic needs." The new funding, said Callahan, will allow CRS and Caritas Cuba "to significantly expand humanitarian assistance through the Catholic Church's trusted network, reaching vulnerable families with the help they urgently need." Featured image: Lourdes Martínez, 78, smiles after receiving beans at a subsidized state store in Havana March 6, 2026, donated by Mexico. Catholic Relief Services, the humanitarian and development agency of the U.S. Catholic bishops, has received $60 million from the U.S. State Department to expand humanitarian assistance to vulnerable families across Cuba. (OSV News/Norlys Perez, Reuters) Magazine past issues. OSV News. OSV News is a national and international wire service reporting on Catholic issues and issues that affect Catholics. It is a part of OSV Publishing, a division of OSV, the largest English-language Catholic publishing company in the United States. OSV, based in Huntington, Indiana, was founded in 1912.