Aloysius Philip Schwartz (September 18, 1930 – March 16, 1992), known as Father Al, was an American Catholic priest who ran social service programs for thousands of orphans in South Korea, the Philippines and Mexico.

1992年3月16日 · Aloysius Schwartz was the founder of Sisters of Mary World Villages for Children and the Sisters of Mary. More affectionately called “Father Al” by those whose lives he touched, he was a Champion of the Poor and the spiritual father to countless children in our Villages for Children (our Girlstowns and Boystowns) throughout the world.

2024年7月5日 · Father Al Schwartz was declared a Servant of God in 2003, which is the first official stage in the process of canonization. He was then declared Venerable by Pope Francis on January 22nd, 2015, a declaration that acknowledges that he lived a life of heroic virtue and marks an important step in his cause for sainthood.

Venerable Aloysius Schwartz was born in Washington, D.C., on September 18, 1930. He grew up with the idea of becoming a secular priest and working as a missionary, with an apostolate to the poor. In 1944, he entered St. Charles Seminary in Maryland and finished his B.A. Degree at Maryknoll College, and studied theology at Louvain Catholic ...

2021年7月21日 · What drove Fr. Schwartz to work so tirelessly? Wells: Father Al consecrated his priesthood to Mary under the title of “The Virgin of the Poor” or “Our Lady of Banneux.”

Venerable Aloysius Schwartz, a missionary priest from Washington who founded Boystown and Girlstown programs for poor children in several countries around the world, died in 1992, and his cause for sainthood is underway. He is the subject of a new biography, “Priest and Beggar” by Catholic author Kevin Wells. (CNS photo/courtesy Asian Relief)

Father Al’s life is a proof that if we are faithful, there is nothing that the grace of God cannot achieve through us. Venerable Aloysius Schwartz, known to most people simply as “Father Al” proved that spiritual maxim with his own life.

2021年3月16日 · Venerable Fr. Aloysius Schwartz is dead. And more than 20,000 children—in 17 Catholic Boystowns and Girlstowns spread across the world—couldn’t be happier. These children rejoice because they are the Lazarus’s pulled from the tomb by the Sisters of Mary, a religious order founded by Fr. Al in 1964.

Almighty, ever-living God, giver of all good gifts, You have filled Msgr. Al with an ardent love for You and for souls. You have inspired him to dedicate his life to relieve the suffering of the orphans, abandoned, the sick and the poor, especially the youth, which he did with all humility and courage until the end of his life.