Profile
Alberto’s father died when he was four years old. He grew up in poverty, living with a series of relatives. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Santiago, Chile.
Early in his life, Alberto felt a call to religion, and to work with those as poor as himself. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1923, and was ordained in 1933. He taught religion at Colegion San Ignacio, trained teachers at Catholic University in Santiago, led retreats for young men, and worked in the poor areas of the city whenever he could.
In 1941, Alberto wrote Is Chile a Catholic Country?, and became national chaplain to the youth movement Catholic Action.
During a retreat in 1944, Father Alberto started the work that would lead to El Hagar de Cristo which shelters the homeless and tries to rescue abandoned children, and was later modeled somewhat on the American Boys Town movement.
In 1947, Alberto founded the Chilean Trade Union Association (ASICH) to promote a Christian labor-union movement. He founded the journal Mensaje, dedicated to explaining the Church‘s teaching, in 1951. He wrote several works in his later years on trade unions, social humanism and the Christian social order.
Born
- 22 January 1901 at Vina del Mar, Chile
Died
- 18 August 1952 at Santiago, Chile of pancreatic cancer
Venerated
- 21 December 1991 by Pope John Paul II (decree of heroic virtues)
Beatified
- 16 October 1994 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized
- 23 October 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI at Rome, Italy
Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-alberto-hurtado-cruchaga/
