Alberto Hurtado was a Chilean Jesuit priest who founded the Hogar de Cristo shelters for the poor and worked for social justice; he is a beloved modern saint of Chile.
Life
Alberto Hurtado was born in 1901 in Viña del Mar, Chile. His father died when he was a small child and he grew up in hardship. After studying law at university, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1923. He continued his studies in Europe, was ordained a priest in 1933, and later returned to Chile to teach young people and students.
Moved by the poor and the children sleeping in the streets, he founded the Hogar de Cristo (Home of Christ) in 1944. He also supported a Catholic workers’ movement and founded a magazine to spread the Church’s social teaching. He died of cancer in 1952, was beatified in 1994 and canonized in 2005.
Spirituality
Saint Alberto’s spirituality is the eye that meets Christ in the poor. For him, prayer and social service were not separate but one. He urged responsibility for a just society, not charity alone, and it is said that even on his sickbed he kept his joy and trust in God.
Reflection
Saint Alberto did not look away from the poor in the streets. What could I begin for neighbors in need near my home and my parish?