VATICAN CITY, OCT. 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Among the five people to be canonized a saint this Sunday is Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga. Here is an excerpt from a biography issued by the Holy See.
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Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga was born in Viña del Mar, Chile, on Jan. 22, 1901. His father died when he was 4 years old. His mother had to sell, at a loss, their modest property in order to pay the family’s debts.
As a further consequence, Alberto and his brother had to go to live with relatives and were often moved from one family to another. From an early age, therefore, he experienced what it meant to be poor, without a home and at the mercy of others.
He was given a scholarship to the Jesuit College in Santiago. Here he became a member of the Sodality of Our Lady and developed a lively interest in the poor, spending time with them in the most miserable neighborhoods every Sunday afternoon.
When he completed his secondary education in 1917, Alberto wanted to become a Jesuit, but he was advised to wait in order to take care of his mother and his younger brother. By working in the afternoons and evenings, he succeeded in supporting them; at the same time, he studied law at the Catholic University. In this period, he maintained his care for the poor and continued to visit them every Sunday. Obligatory military service interrupted his studies, but once he fulfilled this duty he went on to earn his degree early in August 1923.
On Aug. 14, 1923, he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Chillan. In 1925 he went to Cordoba, Argentina, where he studied humanities. In 1927 he was sent to Spain to study philosophy and theology.
However, because of the suppression of the Jesuits in Spain in 1931, he went on to Belgium and continued studying theology at Louvain. He was ordained a priest there on Aug. 24, 1933, and in 1935 obtained a doctorate in pedagogy and psychology.
After having completed his tertianship in Drongen, Belgium, he returned to Chile in January 1936. Here he began his activity as professor of religion at Colegio San Ignacio and of pedagogy at the Catholic University of Santiago.
He was entrusted with the Sodality of Our Lady for the students, and he involved them in teaching catechism to the poor. He frequently directed retreats and offered spiritual direction to many young men, accompanying several of them in their response to the priestly vocation and contributing to the formation of many Christian laymen.
In 1941 Father Hurtado published his most famous book: «Is Chile a Catholic Country?» The same year he was asked to assume the role of assistant for the Youth Movement of the Catholic Action, first within the Archdiocese of Santiago and then nationally. He performed these roles with a spirit of initiative, dedication and sacrifice.
In October 1944, while giving a retreat, he felt impelled to appeal to his audience to consider the many poor people of the city, especially the numerous street children in Santiago. This request evoked a ready and generous response. This was the beginning of the initiative for which Father Hurtado is especially well known: a form of charitable activity which provided not only housing but a homelike milieu for the homeless: «El Hogar de Cristo.»
By means of contributions from benefactors and with the collaboration of committed laity, Father Hurtado opened the first house for children; this was followed by a house for women and then one for men. The houses multiplied and took on new dimensions; in some houses there were rehabilitation centers, in others trade-schools, and so on.
In 1945 Father Hurtado visited the United States to study the Boys Town movement and to consider how it could be adapted to his own country. The last six years of his life were dedicated to the development of various forms in which «El Hogar» could exist and function.
In 1947 Father Hurtado founded the Chilean Trade Union Association to promote a union movement inspired by the social teaching of the Church.
Between 1947 and 1950, Father Hurtado wrote three important works: on trade unions, on social humanism, and on the Christian social order. In 1951 he founded Mensaje, a well-known Jesuit periodical dedicated to explaining the doctrine of the Church.
Pancreatic cancer brought him, within a few months, to the end of his life. In the midst of pain, he was often heard to say, «I am content, Lord.» He died on Aug. 18, 1952.
His apostolate had been an expression of a personal love for Christ the Lord. It was characterized by a great love for poor and abandoned children, an enlightened zeal for the formation of the laity, and a lively sense of Christian social justice.
Father Hurtado was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 16, 1994.
