–New report reveals CRS/USAID dispensed millions of contraceptives and abortifacients–
Since at least 2009, despite numerous well documented reports, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has denied having had any part in the distribution of contraception in any of its projects. Here are a few examples of what has already been reported:
- In 2008, CRS was caught by theologian Germaine Grisez, distributing flip-charts promoting condom use.
- In 2012, 86% of CRS’s domestic grants went to organizations that distribute contraception, commit abortion, and perform sterilizations.
- In 2015, CRS enlisted the help of PEPFAR to alter the public record that showed that CRS implemented the contraception-promoting program, Healthy Choices II.
- Also in 2015, CRS was found to have applied for a government grant to implement the next phase of a condom-promoting video series it had already implemented.
In each case, CRS denied in any way to have promoted, distributed, or facilitated the distribution of any form of contraception. For instance, in response to a 2013 report by Population Research Institute that provided strong evidence of CRS’s participation in the distribution of contraception, CRS said:
CRS programming does not include the promotion or distribution of artificial family planning or distribution of abortifacients in any country in which we work.
That same year, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a defense of CRS titled, “Support for Catholic Relief Services: A Statement of the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.” In the statement, the bishops said,
It is and has been CRS’ policy never to distribute or promote artificial contraceptives or abortifacients or to promote abortion.
We now have proof that while this may be a policy on paper, it is not a policy in practice.
The Lepanto Institute has just completed an investigative report, which gives conclusive evidence to the fact that CRS stored and dispensed 2.25 million units of abortifacient contraceptives and condoms in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
From 2006-2010, CRS was an implementing partner in a USAID-funded project called Project AXxes. Inventory reports from quarterly and annual reports for Project AXxes show that CRS received and dispensed 2.25 million units of contraception. According to the final report, the total distribution of contraception was broken down to 88,235 doses of Depo Provera (injectable contraception), 56,885 cycles of the oral contraceptive called Lo-Femenal, 44,097 cycles of the oral contraceptive called Ovrette, 1,907 IUDs, 2,025,216 male condoms, 40,891 female condoms, 16 IUD insertion kits, and 18 surgical sterilization kits (called CCV Kits, for the French “contraception chirurgicale volontaire”).
Below is a screen-capture of the inventory report found on page 18 of the Annexes for the First Quarterly Report in Year 3 of Project AXxes.
In order to better see the relevant parts of this inventory report, we’ve clipped the image and added highlights. On the lower left of the inventory report is a box indicating “Quantity Received by CRS,” and above it is a box marked “Distributed to HZs.” The numbers to the right of these boxes show how much of each item listed at the top of the chart was received by CRS and how many of these items were distributed to Health Zones (HZ). This inventory report is but one example among many, showing that CRS received, stored, and dispensed contraception that was then distributed throughout health zones for which CRS was responsible.
What must be understood is that these inventory reports were not maintained in some database somewhere away from the project site, but were conducted through visual inventory accounting that was signed off in triplicate by staff responsible for CRS’s warehouse. Section 3.4.1 of the Project AXxes Administrative, Financial and Operations Procedures Manual states:
A physical inventory of the equipment and supplies will be done quarterly. This is to insure that all the equipment and supplies accounted for are indeed physically present. The inventory will be carried out by a team composed, according their level, of the administrator/manager of the project, the logistician and another member of the team. A report, duly signed by the members of the inventory team and the manager of the stock, must confirm the inventory.
Make no mistake, there was no data entry error here, a country administrator did not accidentally identify CRS in the project (as CRS claimed last year regarding its involvement in Healthy Choices II), and this wasn’t done by some third party acting without CRS’s knowledge or permission (as CRS claimed last year with the implementation of the condom-promoting program called Shuga). On the contrary, these inventory reports were highly detailed, very specific, and signed off in triplicate every quarter. This was not a mistake.
But CRS’s involvement in the storage and distribution of contraception wasn’t limited to merely acting as a warehouse site. According to the quarterly and annual reports, CRS incorporated the message of family planning in all aspects of its work in Project AXxes with the full knowledge that the purpose of Project AXxes’s family planning component was the spread of contraception and the reduction of family sizes. In polite company, this is called “population control.”
Page 8 of the Final Report for Project AXxes says:
The provision of high quality, integrated and accessible family planning services was another key objective of Project AXxes. Family planning (FP) interventions in Project AXxes are focused on promoting birth spacing and avoiding unwanted pregnancies to improve maternal health and child wellbeing. Targeted interventions focus on service delivery for women (provision of a full complement of family planning methods, training of clinical providers, and increasing accessibility at the community level) as well as promoting family planning and helping communities understand the value of family planning as a component of good health.
On the same page, the report goes on to explain that the natural family planning component of Project AXxes was nothing more than a stepping stone to introducing women to modern contraceptives. The Final Report says:
Nearly every woman is counseled on MAMA [a natural family planning program] postpartum, and then at her six month visit she is given options for other methods of family planning—a normal step from natural to modern methods.
The thing is, CRS knew all of this would be essential aspects of the project at the time the project was proposed. A document produced at the beginning of the project, titled, “AXxes Project Description,” would have been available to CRS at the outset. On page 1, under the heading “Component A: Increased Access to Integrated Primary Health Care Interventions” is section one, which is labeled, “Child spacing and reproductive health.” This section says:
Child spacing and reproductive health objectives will be achieved through behavior change communication (BCC) messages providing evidence-based information that ensures clients are able to make informed health decisions. Activities will focus on: (1) increase contraceptive security, (2) promote and provide a mix of contraceptive methods, including natural (e.g., SDM and LAM) and modern (e.g., pills, IUD, condoms, etc), (3) promote birth spacing (rather than limiting births) as an entry point for service delivery, (4) ensure that all outreach messages incorporate and involve men, (5) explore partnering and/or collaborating more comprehensively with UNFPA in the provision of family planning services, especially in hard-to-reach areas affected by conflict, (6) provide appropriate screening for and treatment/referral of sexually transmitted infections (STls), (7) provide synergies with HI V/AIDS programming, such as incorporating family planning services into PMTCT and VCT programs, (8) promote community-based activities that include messages for parents about birth spacing and behavior change.
In fact, CRS’s own medical coordinator for Project AXxes, while wearing a polo shirt depicting both the USAID and CRS logos, was very blunt about Project AXxes’s promotion of “family planning.” Beginning at 0:32, Dr. Janvier Barhobagayana says:
The Project AXxes has three components: the first component, which is the largest, aims to improve the quality and accessibility of health care. In fact, this component has a lot of aspects of maternal and child health, assisted delivery, prenatal visits, preschool consultation, family planning, newborn health, PMTCT …
In case there was any question that he meant contraception when he said “family planning,” he was quoted in a 2010 USAID newsletter called FrontLines, where he made it clear. On page 9, in the article titled, “Hospital Deliveries Improve Maternal and Infant Health” he says, “Figures for access to prenatal care, assisted deliveries, and use of contraceptives all show improvement over the last year.”
The “improved” use of contraception really comes as no surprise, considering the extra help in distribution that CRS received in the third year of Project AXxes. Page 15 of the First Quarter Report for Year three says:
USAID provided commodities were very much welcomed and distributed this quarter to implementing partners. These included: 116,000 doses of Depo provera, 42,000 cycles LoFemenal, 20,000 cycles Ovrette and 1,600,000 condoms. Distribution to specific HCs is nearly complete in almost all of the delivery points. We are anticipating even higher FP uptake of services and CYP for next quarter and have appreciated strong support both technical and commodity related from USAID in this endeavor.
CRS-supported HZs received extra support by combining their FP distribution with the CDR (APAMESK) to make FP commodities available at all HCs with other commodities and in a timely manner to avoid stock outs.
One of the indicators for the project was how effectively each implementing partner increased what are called “Couple Years of Protection (CYP).” CYP is a calculation of the cumulative number of years women in a particular area will not be having children due to the use of family planning. Each year of CYP is determined by the number of units required to prevent a single woman from having a baby for the course of a single year.
For example, 15 cycles of an oral contraceptive equals one couple year of protection because 15 cycles of oral contraceptives potentially represents one year in which a couple is not having a baby. And since one year’s use of depo-provera is 4 shots in order for a couple not to have a baby for one year, 4 doses of depo-provera represents one CYP.
CRS was so adept at its integration of family planning products and messaging into its programs that it vastly outperformed the other implementing partners in increasing the CYP of the people under its charge. By the end of the second quarter in year 3, CRS had more than double the CYP in its health zones than any of the other implementing partners. In fact, it had over four times as many “New family planning acceptors (people adopting a new form of family planning) at USG-supported family planning clinics” than the other implementing partners.
And what is most disturbing of all is that this was done in an area where no contraception-promoting program had previously been introduced. Page 14 of the First Quarter Report for Year 1 says:
The upward trends in CYP are shown in the table and chart below. The change is most significant in many HZs in South Kivu and Kolwezi HZs which are the areas were the PF activities were not carried out. In those areas, AXxes is the first partner to develop PF programs.
CRS was responsible for health zones throughout South Kivu, which means that its participation in Project AXxes is directly responsible for introducing contraception to a people who had to that date not yet been subjected to the contraceptive population control programs of the west.
The entire report on CRS’s part in the distribution of contraception through Project AXxes is nearly 60 pages long, so this is just a snapshot of what we have found. To read the entire report, please click the link here: //www.lepantoin.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CRS-AXxess-Report_Final.pdf
The evidence very clearly speaks for itself. The facts are indisputable. Inventory reports submitted to the US government show that CRS received 2.25 million units of abortifacient contraception and condoms. In relation to this, CRS helped integrate family planning commodities and messaging into nearly every aspect of its participation in Project AXxes, and as a result was more adept at increasing the Couple Years of Protection than either of the other implementing partners.
For the last 9 years, CRS has denied having had any involvement in the promotion or distribution of contraception, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. What this report proves is that CRS has not been truthful to either the bishops or to the faithful. This is why we are asking Catholics to sign the petition below, telling the bishops of the United States that we will no longer be participating in ANY fundraising campaign for CRS until it is brought into line with Pope Benedict’s motu proprio on Charity, which mandates that:
The diocesan Bishop is to ensure that charitable agencies dependent upon him do not receive financial support from groups or institutions that pursue ends contrary to Church’s teaching.
Please sign the petition here: //lifepetitions.com/petition/boycott-catholic-relief-services-until-they-follow-catholic-teachings-petition
The Bishops won’t care as long as Obama keeps sending them ten of millions of dollars.
I am So Sad to learn that CRS has become unfaithful to Catholic Doctrine about Family practices.Crs always supportedme when I was Bishop in Kenya
Leo
You were a bishop but now your title is Monsignor, sir? Since when?
I’m afraid much had changed in CRS since then Monsignor.
The Catholic Church = Democrat Party = ORGANIZED CRIME … !!!
Saul alinsky obama Hillary
Watch “wolf in sheeps clothing”
Frightening.
Our lady told us everything this group and others agenda of like mind, thru the Marian Movement of priests.
Like Jewish folks who think their religion is a joke, so with these apostate Catholics. For people who actually go Mass more than Easter or Christmas, this is horrendous.
In fact, as is obvious, this is ONLY a story BECAUSE of the Catholic Church, since virtually ALL Protestant Denominations no longer see a problem with birth control — and some don’t condemn abortion either!!
That the Church hasn’t changed this Teaching is illustrative: The Church NEVER changes Her teachings to satisfy the desires or fancies of men. The Truth is the Truth, whether the whole world acknowledges and lives by it or not. We are to bend to the truth, not vice-versa.
Yes, they have sold their soul. I have been in contact with Archbishop Coakley of CRS for two years now over just this issue and I think it will take a boycott of CRS to get their attention. So frustrating. I have spread the word at my Parish.
Some bishops will. The NCCB is like a basket of apples, some good, some rotten. The Fatima children saw in a vision,many drppping into hell.
We are supposed to do good to our enemies. which they are. but it takes Infinite grace.
You must not be Catholic sir. Know what we teach and know who the Bishops are.
Lepanto has a team of the best journalists on the planet. Now where do we see reports with more proof/documentation.
CRS has lost it’s way.
Thanks Lepanto for for keeping an eye on those who are suppose to be helping people. Once they started taking millions of dollars from the federal government they chose a new god…..mammon.
Sickening. Can anyone recommend alternatives to CRS that can be supported in good conscience?
Cross Catholic International
Christians at Risk: ChristiansAtRisk.org (Knights of Columbus)
Aid to the Church in Need: http://www.churchinneed.org/site/PageServer?pagename=mainpage
Catholic Cross Services: https://www.crosscatholic.org/boxofjoy
Mary’s Meals: https://www.marysmealsusa.org/
What did CRS do to make sure faithful Catholics don’t work for them? Is there some shortage of faithful Catholics or something that CRS cannot employ them?
Yes. Try the knights of columbus or food for the poor, Richard. The KCs particularly are helping the Ukranians and the Christian refugees of the Middle East. Food for the Poor is everywhere.
Food for the Poor has too high an overhead. Choose another.
It’s no longer the smoke of Satan that has entered the church it is the raging inferno of satan that has taken over the “social justice” mindset in the church.
The Catholic Church I was baptized in and where I was educated, it no longer exists. What we have now is an arm of the NWO in order to destroy what’s left of the Catholic Church from within.
I am interested but the link you provided that showed the inventory reports of contraception did not have the table clipped and shown on your report on Page 18 as was indicated. Has the report been changed online or was the link a mistaken one? Would appreciate response.
Our apologies … we had the quarterly report linked for this, but not the annexes for the quarterly report. You can find the inventory report as indicated on page 18 of the link here: http://sanru.org/projects/AXxes%20Yr3Q1%20Annexes%20Jan26.pdf
And thanks to your check, we are correcting the link in the body of the post as well.
The corrupt individuals working in CRS must be removed from their positions. What they are doing does NOT represent the Catholic Church. Where does the buck stop? Let’s find out. I’m sick of certain individuals working for the Church betraying Christ and faithful Catholics. For SHAME!!!
I hope you get a chance to watch Hilary’s America by Dinesh D’Souza. He explains the racket of “deny, deny, deny” that the democrats use. Fascinating how this is always the answer from CRS. Why quit when in works? Keep up the good fight!
Observations:
The Catholic Relief Services website refutes several claims of wrongdoing – including this publication from Lepananto Institue
These claims do not seem to be new
If Lepananto Institute is correct then it is obvious that there is no moral difference between Planned Parenthood minus outright abortions and the Catholic Relief Services
“Rebuffs” is the proper word. “Refute” would mean that CRS provided some sort of counter evidence that disproved the charges against them, which they did not. Regarding this report, CRS has yet to respond.
This discovery of CRS’s distribution of contraception is the most direct evidence discovered to date, so there is nothing in this report that has ever been reported on before.
As for the correctness, I urge you to read the report, and then take a look at the primary sources linked toward the end of the document. You will see first-hand the inventory reports showing CRS receiving and distributing millions of contraceptives. Seriously … don’t take our word for it. Look at the primary sources.
I believe Ab Napier, Sarah and Oyo etc. and others in Africa need to be contacted and given these reports. Shame on Crs and any church officials complicit is the apostate actions.
THAT is a great idea. Those bishops from Africa are fantastic. We here in the west have a few, but darn few!
The US Catholic Bishops have done a terrible job of fighting ABORTION and HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE.
Now they these Bishops support IL-LEGAL IMMIGRATION and OBAMA-CARE.
CONCLUSION:
The Catholic Church = Democrat Party = ORGANIZED CRIME … !!!
Well, not The Church. The bureaucracy (sp?) of Church in the west. Major corruption. Can anyone say Judas Iscariot? I believe he walked with Our Lord Himself, and still betrayed him for what? Money. Wow! SSDD! That’s what SO many (not all by any means) of our supposed bishops in the west are doing now. Don’t they understand how harshly they will be judged? Pray for them!
Michael, I admire you for the work you are doing. I have only one suggestion. Perhaps you should avoid using their positive-sounding term, family planning services. You could explain in your report that you will call it something more accurate such as life-destroying products, or family-destroying products. “Family planning services” are not a service, nor do they do anything to help families.
All,
CRS is proudly a partner of the Gates Foundation…this is problematic because tragically they are promoting contraception with all of the wealth of resources of their foundation…
http://www.crs.org/media-center/crs-work-with-the-bill-melinda-gates-foundation
Here is some of the ugly part of the Gates Foundation:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Family-Planning
“Significant challenges stand in the way of making contraceptives more widely available and accessible, including insufficient donor and developing country funding, lack of appropriate products that meet users’ needs, weak distribution systems, lack of reliable monitoring and data collection mechanisms, and cultural and knowledge barriers”
No big surprise.
Why isn’t there condemnation from the American Bishops??? Or the Vatican???? Oh, I know. Money talks. An utter disgrace and the continuing moving away from true Catholic beliefs and teaching. Souls sold for greenbacks.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I am disappointed, but not really shocked. “If you take the King’s salt, you must follow the King’s directives.”
Has CRS responded yet? Or do they know they can do all the evil they want and as long as they are bringing in all the federal money they can the bishops will turn a blind eye.
CRS posted a response on their website on October 19. It’s rather hard to find because it’s not on their main page or their media center page. You can see it here: http://www.crs.org/stories/catholic-relief-services-refutes-allegations-improper-conduct-democratic-republic-congo
This is our refutation of CRS’s response:
http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/catholic-relief-services/catholic-relief-services-denies-admits-guilt-congo-contraception-program/
It is irresponsible for Lepanto Institute to post this without having first contacted CRS to ask them for an explanation. Below is CRS’s official response to this story, which was released earlier today. If you have questions about it you should contact CRS directly at 888-277-7575.
Catholic Relief Services Refutes Allegations of Improper Conduct in Democratic Republic of Congo
A blogger, known as the Lepanto Institute, has once more published a report critical of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The central accusation in the 58-page document is that CRS received and distributed contraceptives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of a USAID-funded mother and child health project called AXxes, which ran from 2006 to 2010.
The blogger’s evidence for this accusation is the project’s reports, which are publicly available online. They do indeed seem to show CRS as receiving contraceptives. However, this is an error that emanates from unclear wording in a report prepared by another organization that did not understand how important absolute clarity on this point is to CRS.
Project AXxes involved a number of implementing organizations, including the lead partner IMA World Heath, CRS and the Catholic Church in Congo. Organizations were responsible for different geographic areas of the country where they carried out the mother and child health programs. The contraceptives in question were delivered to the geographic area where CRS worked but it was IMA World Health – not CRS – who “provided an alternative mechanism for the training, storage and distribution of contraceptive products.”
This is a direct quote from Richard Santos, President of IMA World Health, in a letter on this matter provided to CRS on October 5, 2016. The letter goes on to say that “it is plausible that the reports are unclear to an outside person who may read a project report that has CRS responsible zones listed as CRS having provided all of the services in those areas. However, this is a simplistic view and does not represent reality. In reality, CRS was very clear with all parties that it would not engage in any activities that were contrary to Catholic teaching and that it would not promote such activities to its local Catholic partners.”
The Conference of Congolese Bishops (CENCO) supports this. In a letter provided to CRS on September 29, 2016, they state: “The CENCO stands behind the work of Catholic Relief Services, with whom we have partnered for more than 40 years. The work of CRS has always been faithful to Catholic teaching and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
CRS did provide natural family planning as part of Project AXxes with the distribution of cycle beads, as befits a Catholic organization working to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers and their young children.
A simple query to CRS would have provided clarification of the report but the blogger didn’t approach CRS with his concerns. CRS has been very clear with this blogger over the years that we welcome constructive dialogue about our work. However, these attacks are not constructive or offered as such.
CRS currently uses an elaborate ongoing review process for our programming, involving bishops on our board and top moral theologians, to ensure that we uphold Catholic teaching in all we do. If we ever do find a problem, we correct it immediately. The bishops of the U.S. have affirmed this system in a 2013 statement from the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which said these groups “do not speak for the Catholic Church and we advise the Catholic faithful to exercise caution and consult the CRS website for clarification before endorsing or giving credence to the groups’ critiques.”
Unfortunately, these types of attacks distract us and others from the life-saving and life-promoting work that we do each and every day. Especially now, directing staff resources to respond to unfounded allegations means pulling resources from our lifesaving response in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people need assistance after their homes were wiped out by Hurricane Matthew.
We’ll address the first point right away. What CRS is truly complaining about here is that it didn’t have ample time to orchestrate another cover-up. The last time we provided information to Catholic Relief Services in advance of releasing a report, they used it to contact PEPFAR in order to have the public record changed so as to give the appearance that CRS had not implemented a contraception-promoting program called Healthy Choices II. (See our report, CRS, PEPFAR, and the Cover-Up) CRS claimed that it was mistakenly identified with the project and had PEPFAR change the public record on its behalf. Once again, CRS is claiming it was mistakenly identified with a contraception-promoting program and has asked an outside agency to take the fall. Until CRS shows itself to be more interested in addressing authentic concerns from faithful Catholics than in making excuses, we see no reason to provide advanced warning. And given the pre-gamed response to a report it had not yet seen (see Life Site News’ report here), attempting to poison the well among the bishops against it, it seems that our concerns continue to be well founded.
Read the rest of our refutation of CRS’s response here: http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/catholic-relief-services/catholic-relief-services-denies-admits-guilt-congo-contraception-program/
A blogger, known as the Lepanto Institute, has once more published a report critical of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The central accusation in the 58-page document is that CRS received and distributed contraceptives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of a USAID-funded mother and child health project called AXxes, which ran from 2006 to 2010.
The blogger’s evidence for this accusation is the project’s reports, which are publicly available online. They do indeed seem to show CRS as receiving contraceptives. However, this is an error that emanates from unclear wording in a report prepared by another organization that did not understand how important absolute clarity on this point is to CRS.
Project AXxes involved a number of implementing organizations, including the lead partner IMA World Heath, CRS and the Catholic Church in Congo. Organizations were responsible for different geographic areas of the country where they carried out the mother and child health programs. The contraceptives in question were delivered to the geographic area where CRS worked but it was IMA World Health – not CRS – who “provided an alternative mechanism for the training, storage and distribution of contraceptive products.”
This is a direct quote from Richard Santos, President of IMA World Health, in a letter on this matter provided to CRS on October 5, 2016. The letter goes on to say that “it is plausible that the reports are unclear to an outside person who may read a project report that has CRS responsible zones listed as CRS having provided all of the services in those areas. However, this is a simplistic view and does not represent reality. In reality, CRS was very clear with all parties that it would not engage in any activities that were contrary to Catholic teaching and that it would not promote such activities to its local Catholic partners.”
The Conference of Congolese Bishops (CENCO) supports this. In a letter provided to CRS on September 29, 2016, they state: “The CENCO stands behind the work of Catholic Relief Services, with whom we have partnered for more than 40 years. The work of CRS has always been faithful to Catholic teaching and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
CRS did provide natural family planning as part of Project AXxes with the distribution of cycle beads, as befits a Catholic organization working to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers and their young children.
A simple query to CRS would have provided clarification of the report but the blogger didn’t approach CRS with his concerns. CRS has been very clear with this blogger over the years that we welcome constructive dialogue about our work. However, these attacks are not constructive or offered as such.
CRS currently uses an elaborate ongoing review process for our programming, involving bishops on our board and top moral theologians, to ensure that we uphold Catholic teaching in all we do. If we ever do find a problem, we correct it immediately. The bishops of the U.S. have affirmed this system in a 2013 statement from the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which said these groups “do not speak for the Catholic Church and we advise the Catholic faithful to exercise caution and consult the CRS website for clarification before endorsing or giving credence to the groups’ critiques.”
Unfortunately, these types of attacks distract us and others from the life-saving and life-promoting work that we do each and every day. Especially now, directing staff resources to respond to unfounded allegations means pulling resources from our lifesaving response in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people need assistance after their homes were wiped out by Hurricane Matthew.
Please see our refutation of CRS’s response: http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/catholic-relief-services/catholic-relief-services-denies-admits-guilt-congo-contraception-program/
I inquired directly from CRS, since we are seeking the truth…prayerfully consider this:
Thank you for your inquiry. I appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns.
A blogger, known as the Lepanto Institute, has once more published a report critical of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The central accusation in the 58-page document is that CRS received and distributed contraceptives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of a USAID-funded mother and child health project called AXxes, which ran from 2006 to 2010.
The blogger’s evidence for this accusation is the project’s reports, which are publicly available online. They do indeed seem to show CRS as receiving contraceptives. However, this is an error that emanates from unclear wording in a report prepared by another organization that did not understand how important absolute clarity on this point is to CRS.
Project AXxes involved a number of implementing organizations, including the lead partner IMA World Heath, CRS and the Catholic Church in Congo. Organizations were responsible for different geographic areas of the country where they carried out the mother and child health programs. The contraceptives in question were delivered to the geographic area where CRS worked but it was IMA World Health – not CRS – who “provided an alternative mechanism for the training, storage and distribution of contraceptive products.”
This is a direct quote from Richard Santos, President of IMA World Health, in a letter on this matter provided to CRS on October 5, 2016. The letter goes on to say that “it is plausible that the reports are unclear to an outside person who may read a project report that has CRS responsible zones listed as CRS having provided all of the services in those areas. However, this is a simplistic view and does not represent reality. In reality, CRS was very clear with all parties that it would not engage in any activities that were contrary to Catholic teaching and that it would not promote such activities to its local Catholic partners.”
The Conference of Congolese Bishops (CENCO) supports this. In a letter provided to CRS on September 29, 2016, they state: “The CENCO stands behind the work of Catholic Relief Services, with whom we have partnered for more than 40 years. The work of CRS has always been faithful to Catholic teaching and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
CRS did provide natural family planning as part of Project AXxes with the distribution of cycle beads, as befits a Catholic organization working to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers and their young children.
A simple query to CRS would have provided clarification of the report but the blogger didn’t approach CRS with his concerns. CRS has been very clear with this blogger over the years that we welcome constructive dialogue about our work. However, these attacks are not constructive or offered as such.
CRS currently uses an elaborate ongoing review process for our programming, involving bishops on our board and top moral theologians, to ensure that we uphold Catholic teaching in all we do. If we ever do find a problem, we correct it immediately. The bishops of the U.S. have affirmed this system in a 2013 statement from the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which said these groups “do not speak for the Catholic Church and we advise the Catholic faithful to exercise caution and consult the CRS website for clarification before endorsing or giving credence to the groups’ critiques.”
Unfortunately, these types of attacks distract us and others from the life-saving and life-promoting work that we do each and every day. Especially now, directing staff resources to respond to unfounded allegations means pulling resources from our lifesaving response in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people need assistance after their homes were wiped out by Hurricane Matthew.
Please see our refutation of CRS’s response: http://www.lepantoinstitute.org/catholic-relief-services/catholic-relief-services-denies-admits-guilt-congo-contraception-program/