CRS was founded in 1943 and will mark its 80th anniversary next year. Together with more than 1,700 partners, it works in emergency response, agriculture, capacity-building, education, health care, justice and peacebuilding, microfinance, and water and sanitation. According to the agency’s fact sheet for fiscal year 2021, the agency had about $1 billion in annual revenue, 93% of which it dedicated to programs.
Pérez, 61, has served as archbishop of Philadelphia since February 2020. Born in Miami to Cuban exiles, he was ordained a priest for the archdiocese in 1989 and spent his time as a priest with a particular focus on Hispanic ministry. In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI named him an auxiliary bishop for New York’s Diocese of Rockville Centre, and Pope Francis named him bishop of Cleveland in 2017.
“We are thrilled to welcome Archbishop Pérez as the chairman of our board of directors,” Sean Callahan, president and CEO of CRS, said in a statement. “I look forward to working with him as we address some of the most pressing issues CRS has faced, including the global food crisis and the impact of climate change on people living in poverty.”
Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the outgoing CRS board of directors chairman, praised Pérez as “a man of deep conviction about the need to protect the dignity of all of our brothers and sisters, particularly the most vulnerable among us.”
Pérez said he was “deeply grateful” to Caggiano.
“His work to promote and defend human life while fostering a more just and peaceful world is truly commendable/ I look forward to building on his efforts,” the archbishop said.
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