| Saint Alberto Hurtado | |
|---|---|
San Alberto Hurtado |
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| Born | January 22, 1901 Viña del Mar, Chile |
| Died | August 18, 1952 (aged 51) Santiago, Chile |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | October 16, 1994, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | October 23, 2005, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Feast | August 18 |
| Attributes | Jesuit robes, an old green van |
| Patronage | Chile, poor people, street children, social workers |
Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga (born Luis Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga on January 22, 1901, Viña del Mar, Chile - August 18, 1952, Santiago, Chile), popularly known in Chile as Padre Hurtado (Spanish: Father Hurtado), was a Chilean Jesuit priest, lawyer, social worker and writer of Basque origin,[1] founder of the Hogar de Cristo foundation. He was canonized on October 23, 2005, by Pope Benedict XVI, becoming his country's second saint.
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With his father's death in 1905 (when Hurtado was only four), the family found itself to have significant financial difficulties, forcing his mother to start selling off the land owned by the family.[2] Thanks to a scholarship, he managed to study at the prestigious all-boys Jesuit school of St. Ignacio, Santiago (1909–17). During this time, he volunteered at the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Andacollo, a Catholic parish and school in a needy neighborhood of Santiago.[3] At the parish and school, he assisted in the office and was librarian. From 1918 to 1923, he attended the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, studying in its law school and writing his thesis on labour law.
Rather than starting a career in law, Hurtado entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1923, was trained in philosophy and theology in Barcelona, Spain, (from where, in 1932, he was expelled with his Spanish colleagues) and completed his theology in Louvain, Belgium, (1932–34) where he was ordained priest on August 24, 1933. While pursuing his theological studies, he worked on a doctorate in psychology and pedagogy at the Catholic University of Louvain.
Right from the early days of his studies in labour law, and before becoming a Jesuit, Hurtado had his mind and heart set on tackling social issues and problems. Before returning to Chile, he visited social and educational centers in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Back home, in 1936, Hurtado's ministry expanded to the pastoring of the Chilean poor, especially disadvantaged children, teenagers and young adults. He was a religion teacher and later educated future teachers in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Spiritual formation was also important. He gave regular retreats according to the Spiritual Exercises (of St Ignatius of Loyola) and helped them in the process to discover their vocations in the service of Christ.
There was much social inequality in Chile during this time, and conservative Catholics in the nation had difficulty accepting the Vatican's social teachings. As late as 1931, the official party organ (aligned with the church hierarchy) refused to publish Quadragesimo Anno, and when a group of clergy petitioned Archbishop José Horacio Campillo Infante to remove the editors, he refused and stated it was "necesssary to protect Catholics from the imprudent acts of the pope".[4]
In 1936, he authored an article entitled La Crisis Sacerdotal en Chile, which addressed the problem of the shortage of priests in Chile; his analysis was criticized as 'exaggerated'.[4] He criticized the level of catechism instruction offered in Chile, and wrote that young men often signed up as catechists but lacked the necessary certificate.
In 1940, he was appointed diocesan director of the Catholic Action youth movement and the very next year, its national director (1941–1944). That same year, in 1941, Hurtado's sociology-oriented mind led to his authoring of the book Is Chile a Catholic Country? The book published statistics revealing a lack of priests assigned to the working class and rural populations, including detailing parishes that had 10,000 laypeople assigned for one priest covering huge geographic areas. His solution was to increase and better educate the clergy, however, this never came to be. Almost half of Chile's clergy were foreigners (including missionaries from the United States and Canada) who did circuits of towns administering the sacraments (i.e., going to one town one week, then another the next week, etc.) Most Chileans regarded devotion to the Virgin and the saints as more important than attending Mass or consuming the Eucharist, which they could not do regularly.[4]
In the book he published the results of a 1939 survey of Chilean religious practices and found that only 9% of Chilean women and 3.5% of Chilean men regularly attended Mass (leaving over 90% as not regularly practicing).[4] Revealing a few shocking realities as it was, the book raised a storm among conservative Catholics in Chile (including the hierarchy), who even accused him of being a Communist.
Keeping in mind his own origins, and ever grateful for the help he (and his family) had received when they were in great difficulties, Hurtado was led to active social involvement. His strong faith was transformed into action with his founding of an organization similar to the present-day Boys and Girls Club in the United States. His shelters, called Hogar de Cristo (Home of Christ), took in all children in need of food and shelter, abandoned or not. He also purchased a 1946 green pickup truck and monitored the streets at night to help those in need that he could reach. His own charisma brought him many collaborators and benefactors; the movement was a huge success. The shelters multiplied all over the country. It is estimated that between 1945 and 1951 more than 850,000 children received some help from the movement.
In 1947, Hurtado entered the labor movement, shepherding Chilean workers. Inspired by the social teaching of the Church he founded the Chilean Trade Union Association, meant to train leaders and instill Christian values in the labor unions of his country. For them he wrote the three books Social Humanism (1947), The Christian Social Order (1947) and Trade Unions (1950). He served as a confessor to the Falagne Nacional (the precursor to the modern Christian Democratic Party).
To disseminate the social teaching of the Church and help Christians reflect and act on the serious social problems faced by the country he founded in 1951 the periodical called Mensaje ("Message"). He himself published numerous articles and books on labor issues in relation to the Roman Catholic faith.
Deeply spiritual, Hurtado was untiring in his work for the workers and the youth, combining intellectual reflection and practical actions. Ever optimistic and joyful he had also an attractive personality that brought many people to Christ and the Church, young and old, intellectuals and manual workers.
One day in 1952, Father Hurtado was stricken with intense pain and rushed to hospital. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Day after day the media kept the country informed of Hurtado's state of health. Before his death he had become a national hero. True to the faith he had been professing all through his life, he accepted gracefully what was ineluctable. After a brief battle with the illness, he died in Santiago.
Father Hurtado was beatified on October 16, 1994, by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 23, 2005.[5] St. Alberto was one of the first people to be elevated to sainthood during the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI; he was also the second Chilean saint, after Saint Teresa of the Andes.
Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga is one of the most popular and cherished saints in his country, Chile. An indication of his lasting popularity was the presence in Saint Peter's Square, on the day of Hurtado's canonization, of a very large contingent of Chilean people, led by the highest authorities of the country, starting with President Ricardo Lagos and some high-ranking Chilean politicians who actually had been Father Hurtado's students during his school teacher time, like then-Senator Gabriel Valdés.
The Hogar de Cristo he founded still exists, and through its fight for social justice, it has become one of the biggest charity groups in Chile. There are also an avenue and the San Alberto Hurtado metro station in Santiago (the closest to his main shrine, which also houses the Hogar's headquarters) named after him. Alberto Hurtado University, located in Santiago and run by the Society of Jesus, preserves his name and strives to bring his legacy into contemporary education and social affairs. Xavier High School in New York, New York, renamed a hall and Seattle University has a Residential Learning Community named after him. Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, opens its empty classrooms in the evenings to an ESL program called The Hurtado Center. Belen Jesuit High School has starred the Hurtado Experience for its ninth graders, taking them on retreats to help out the needy in Miami.
Chilean historian, Marciano Barrios Valdes, considered the Catholic Action movement in Chile to be what sustained the Catholic Church's continued existence in Chile into the 1960s.[4]
During the 1990s there was a short TV series dedicated to him, named "Crónica de un Hombre Santo" (English: "Chronicles of a Holy Man"). Four actors portrayed Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, from his childhood to his last years; popular telenovela actor Cristián Campos played the adult Father Hurtado during his ministry.