The Life of Fr Alberto Hurtado SJ

When Alberto told his mother of his decision to become a Jesuit, she greeted the news gladly.  He became a novice and, after many years of study and hard work, he was ordained a priest, in Belgium, in 1933.  Father Hurtado returned to Chile, where he devoted himself to teaching and to providing spiritual guidance to his school pupils.  He became a great teacher and educator of the young.

One night, Father Hurtado came upon a man, poor, sick, and miserable, who had nowhere to spend the night; on another occasion, he found a group of abandoned children sleeping under the bridges of the Mapocho River.  The urge to help these people arose within him.  He rallied a group of generous people who contributed their possessions: their money, jewels, land, etc. ...  And that was how he founded what was to become his major achievement: the Hogar de Cristo.

With untiring love, he would go out in his little green pick-up and bring in the poor off the streets, to the Hogar, for a cup of hot milk and a night's sleep in a proper bed...  In each of these poor people, he saw the suffering Christ.

 Hogar de Cristo, Chile

 Fr Hurtado Centre, Catholic University of Chile

 The Jesuits in Chile