Aloysius Schwartz

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

Starting with few financial resources, he founded the Sisters of Mary of Banneux and the Brothers of Christ religious orders in South Korea and established numerous homes and schools for orphaned or neglected children. He was declared venerable by Pope Francis.

Early life Aloysius Schwartz was born in Washington, D.C. on September 18, 1930, to Louis Schwartz and Cedelia Bourassa, the third of seven children. His father sold furniture door-to-door. His mother died of cancer when he was 16 years old. As a child, Schwartz read the comic Boy Commandos, about teenage orphans banding together to fight Nazis. According to Schwartz, it nurtured his desire to do good.

Deciding at a young age to become a priest, Schwartz turned down a scholarship to a Jesuit high school. In 1944, he entered St. Charles, a minor seminary in Catonsville, Maryland. Schwartz was accepted by the bishop in South Korea and separated from SAM.

The Philippines and Mexico In 1983, Schwartz received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in Manilla, Philippines. He met Cardinal Jaime Sin, then Archbishop of Manila, who invited him to bring his religious community to aid the poor in the archdiocese.

In 1985, Schwartz founded the Sisters of Mary at Santa Mesa, Manila, expanding his charity programs. Buildings were constructed, and children from the slum and impoverished areas were recruited.

Illness and death In 1989, Schwartz was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Despite his deteriorating health, he established Boystowns and Girlstowns in Mexico, which he called his "unfinished symphony". His illness made him immobile, and he continued his work in a wheelchair.

Schwartz returned to the Philippines in October 1991, after the inauguration of the first Girlstown and Boystown on October 7, 1991. He died on March 16, 1992, at the Manila Girlstown and was buried at the Silang Boystown (now Girlstown) in Cavite.

Beatification process The cause of beatification for Aloysius Schwartz was opened at the Manila Cathedral on December 10, 2003. On May 29, 2004, at the Sisters of Mary Girlstown Complex in Cavite, Auxiliary bishop Socrates B. Villegas declared the beatification process of Schwartz to be completed on diocesan level. On October 6, 2012, the Positio Super Vita Virtutibus et Fama Sanctitatis for Schwartz was submitted to Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. The Special Congress of the Theological Consultors gave its favorable vote on March 6, 2014. On January 22, 2015, Pope Francis ordered the promulgation of the decree of the heroic virtue of venerable Aloysius Schwartz.

Legacy The Sisters of Mary and the Brothers of Christ serve the poor in Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, and Tanzania. More than 170,000 impoverished children have graduated from their boarding schools and are now gainfully-employed, others become successful in their own businesses and some become priests and religious following the example of venerable Aloysius.