EarthBeat Weekly: Year after major cuts, CRS receives new federal disaster aid

Year after Trump's cuts, Catholic Relief Services receives $240M in disaster aid   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change June 12, 2026   Workers distribute shelter kits assembled by Catholic Relief Services at a camp for survivors of the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  (OSV News/Bob Roller) One week ago, representatives of Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. State Department gathered in Rome to announce a new $240 million grant to the U.S. bishops' overseas humanitarian and disaster agency.  The funds were designated specifically for those two purposes, with an emphasis on organizations capable of deploying quickly to crisis areas around the globe, as soon as 24 hours.  CRS's decades-long track record for fast responses, along with its expansive network of partner organizations in countries around the globe, were determining factors in selecting it for this first grant in a new series, a senior State Department official told me this week in an article I reported for National Catholic Reporter.  "They're extremely effective in what they do. They have a broad reach globally to be able to reach a lot of [these crisis zones]," the official said. The new award, while welcome news for CRS, comes more than a year after the Trump administration gutted U.S. foreign assistance, including the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. The cancellation or freezing of $60 billion in international aid in February 2025 had major ramifications for CRS, slashing hundreds of millions from its budget and with it a third of its staff and programs. CRS had been the leading recipient of USAID funds among nongovernment organizations. In 2024, it received $568 million from USAID and nearly $700 million overall in federal funding, per public spending records.  Portions of that funding over the years had gone toward CRS's various projects and initiatives in responding to the impacts of climate change. In recent years, CRS has amplified its climate work and launched a campaign to raise awareness and educate U.S. Catholics about the ways climate change is impacting people, particularly the most vulnerable, around the world right now. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that everywhere [in the 100+ countries] CRS works, when you talk to farmers they will tell you that the climate has changed out from under them," Bill O'Keefe, CRS executive vice president for mission, mobilization and advocacy, said in October 2022 at the launch of its climate action initiative.  Along with responding to weather-related disasters worsened by increasing global temperatures — fueled primarily from burning fossil fuels — CRS has developed with local partners programs to help vulnerable communities with limited resources adapt to changes in weather patterns, water access and land fertility.  A main focus has been on sustainable and regenerative farming, with CRS projects undertaken in parts of Africa, Bangladesh and Central America's Dry Corridor, the latter of which I saw up close during a reporting trip in the spring 2023. The new grant from the Trump administration omits development assistance for responding to climate change, which the president — who has removed the U.S. from international climate treaties — has falsely claimed is a hoax.  Speaking with me for the story, CRS president and CEO Sean Callahan said the new State Department funding was focused on immediate humanitarian relief rather than more proactive projects aimed at helping communities build resilience to a changing climate.  When I asked about the state of CRS's climate-related projects, Callahan said "we really need to continue to do what we call water-smart agriculture and climate-smart agriculture in various areas. … We have been doing this for years working with small-scale agriculture, and we just see it as crucial." He added its recent accreditation with the Green Climate Fund — the main financial mechanism for the 2015 Paris Agreement — will provide new funding for that work, which is only becoming more critical for the world's most vulnerable communities as climate impacts become more pronounced and life-threatening around the world. "As you know, we're in an El Niño phase coming in right now, where we see that that could have a very negative effect on agricultural production in many areas," Callahan said. "So we want to make sure we get out ahead of that and can start supporting some people so that they don't feel the drastic effects of it. It is using the appropriate seeds, using the appropriate techniques and water conservation mechanisms, so that we can make sure that our agriculture and the production that local farmers have is protected at this time." 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Read more here »   Vietnamese sisters help survivors of Formosa environmental disaster rebuild lives by Reporter in Vietnam Ten years after the environmental disaster that devastated Vietnam's central coast and affected thousands of fishing families, women religious focus on livelihoods, accompaniment and long-term healing. Read more here »   Indigenous, church leaders hold 'knowledge-sharing' meeting on 'Doctrine of Discovery' by Cindy Wooden, OSV News As the Indigenous people of Canada and the United States continue to fight for self-governance and for control of their traditional territories, many of them point to the Catholic Church and the "Doctrine of Discovery" as being a prime cause for loss of their full rights.  Read more here »   'Pressure' star Brendan Fraser on leadership, humility and playing Eisenhower by Zachary Lee Brendan Fraser talks about his role as General Eisenhower in the new movie "Pressure," which finds him tormented by the decision over whether to deploy troops on D-Day. Read more here »   Teilhard de Chardin points to what Pope Leo missed in 'Magnifica Humanitas' by Ilia Delio What does it mean to be human in the age of artificial intelligence? The answer Magnifica Humanitas gives — remain — is too small for the tradition it invokes and for the moment it addresses, says Sr. Ilia Delio. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news: 'Severe' stress on oceans as rate of sea level rise doubles in 10 years, UN warns —Karen McVeigh for the Guardian Judge tosses Trump bid to restrict renewable energy tax credits —Rachel Fazin for The Hill On the historic route from Selma to Montgomery, an AI cloud looms —Lee Hedgepeth for Inside Climate News Lawsuit challenges Trump administration's land swap with SpaceX in Texas —Valerie Gonzalez for the Associated Press Clergy across New Jersey urge lawmakers to pass Climate Superfund Act — Krystal Knapp for The Jersey Vindicator New Qcells plant doubles current US capacity to make solar cells —Julian Spector for Canary Media A flesh-eating cattle parasite spreads beyond Texas as new screwworm cases are found —Jeffrey Collins for the Associated Press There's something special about Kangaroo Island's koalas —Ana Norman Bermudez for the BBC Deepest and most extensive whale graveyard discovered in Indian Ocean —Nicola Davis for the Guardian Final Beat: You can keep up with the latest news and coverage at EarthBeat throughout the week on social media.  Give us a follow (@earthbeatncr) on Instagram and Facebook. And you can follow National Catholic Reporter (@ncronline) on most social platforms, too. As always, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? Place an Ad in NCR's Online Classified Section for Only $75 per Month!   Advertisement