Letter of December 9, 2005

St. Albert Hurtado - Another Saint from the Americas
The Most Reverend Carl F. Mengeling, Bishop of Lansing
We rejoice in another Saint from our world of the Americas. He is St. Albert Hurtado from Chile in South America.

He was canonized, with four others, by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter Square on October 23, 2005.

About ten years earlier, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Rome on October 16, 1994.

Alberto Hurtado was born into an impoverished Catholic family in Vina del Mar, Chile on January 22, 1901. His father died when Alberto was nearly four, leaving his mother in heavy debt with him and a brother, Miguel.

With a scholarship, he attended the Colegio San Ignacio, a Jesuit High School. There he was inspired by Father Solar, an advocate of social justice who was twice exiled from Chile. Father Hurtado said of him: "To him I owe my priesthood and my social vocation."

After high school he studied law at the Catholic University of Chile. His two thesis for degrees were on social justice; one on the regulation of child labor and one on domestic labor.

His vocation was to the priesthood. As he worked to support his mother, he spend hours in prayer to become a priest. His mother received an amount in a debt settlement that enabled her to live comfortably for the rest of her life.

He entered the Society of Jesus as a novice in 1923. He studied in Argentina, Spain and the Seminary at Louvain in Belgium.

After ordination at Louvain in 1933, he earned a doctorate there in pedagogy and psychology. On return to Chile in 1936 he was a high school and university teacher in the capital city of Santiago. Many young people sought him for spiritual direction.

Discovering homeless and sick people living in the open and abandoned children sleeping under bridges over the Maysocho River opened a new direction for his life. At a retreat in 1941 he appealed for their help for the homeless. They responded with money, jewels, and land that funded the first Hogar de Christo (Home of Christ).

The first Hogar still houses activities for youths, an infirmary, workshops and a refuge from the homeless. Other ‘Homes of Christ’ were established in Chile.

People recall Father Hurtado in his green pickup truck picking up the poor and homeless and bringing them to the Hogar. He provided workshops to form and education the homeless and get them jobs. Several months before his death, he began a monthly magazine called Mensaje (Message). It remains one of the most influential publications in South America.

In the poor and homeless, Father Hurtado saw Christ. He writes: "Christ, in his mystical body, is dying of tuberculosis on the streets or under a bridge." and "If we don’t see Christ in the person we rub elbows with every moment, that is because our faith is tepid and our love imperfect."

St. Alberto died of pancreatic cancer on August 8, 1952. In terrible pain, he often repeated: "I am content, Lord."

Father Alberto Hurtado
Apostle of Jesus Christ,
devoted servant of the poor,
friend of children
and teacher of youth.
We bless and thank our God
for the time you spend among us.

You knew how to love and serve.
You were a prophet of justice and a
refuge for the needy and forsaken.
With tender love you built a home
to shelter Christ.

As a true father
you call us to live our faith,
responsibly, honestly and fraternally.

You guide us with enthusiasm
to follow in the steps of the Master.
You lead us to the Savior
for which the whole world longs.

Teach us how to live joyfully,
even in the midst of difficulties.
Show us how to overcome our selfishness,
to live our lives for the sake of others.

Father Hurtado, son of Mary, son of the Church,
friend of God and of men,
pray for us.

Amen.