Fr. Al was busy in his service to the poor. He had hospitals built to serve people who could not afford doctors.

Fr. Al loved to serve children. There were many children in Korea who were orphans. He worked to open homes called Boystown and Girlstown where those children who had no homes or families could live. He also wanted to help students who could not afford education so Fr. Al started schools.

All of this work kept him very busy, but his faith in God kept him strong.

In August 1964, Fr. Al started an order of religious sisters to help him in his work in serving the poor.

They are called the Sisters of Mary and they have more than 300 sisters who continue this work today in six countries.

People all around the world noticed his good work and nominated Fr. Al for the Nobel Peace Prize—twice!

“Our strength to love and to serve others comes

from the Holy Eucharist.”

Venerable FATHer AloySIuS

ScHwArTzPriEst, MissiOnary,

sErvant Of tHE POOr

His faith helped Fr. Al stay strong in life.

Fr. Aloysius died on March 16, 1992. when asked how he wanted to be remembered he said: “He tried his best for Jesus.”

Great strength from Great faith

In october, 1989 Fr. Al learned he had Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (AlS), a disease that causes the muscles in the body to stop working and the person slowly becomes paralyzed. This was a hard disease for Fr. Al to have because he had to give up running. But even when he had to stay in a wheelchair, he still served the poor and celebrated Mass.

“My children, my ambition is not to build buildings,

but to make saints out of you.”

- Fr. Aloysius Schwartz

on January, 22, 2015, Pope Francis gave permission for Fr. Aloysius to be called ‘Venerable’—the next step before sainthood. He is the first person from Washington to receive this title.

a POOr PriEst

ServING THe Poor

Produced by theARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON

www.adw.org

To learn more about Fr. Al and the cause for his canonization, please visit

www.fatheralsainthood.org

“as Jesus on the cross, i do not look back. i do not consider the future but i trust God. i believe in his grace

from instant to instant.”

Not only did Fr. Al want to be a priest, he wanted to be a missionary priest and serve the church in other countries.

when he was a student studying to become a priest, Fr. Al made many visits to Banneux, Belgium. This is a special place where the Blessed Mother appeared and said: “I am the Virgin of the Poor. I came to relieve suffering.”

when praying during one of his visits, Fr. Al promised to live a life of poverty and to always serve the poor.

Aloysius Schwartz became Fr. Aloysius Schwartz June 29, 1957. He was ordained by Bishop McNamara at St. Martin of Tours Catholic church in washington.

aloysius schwartzwas born in washington, Dc on September 18, 1930. His parents were louis and cedelia Schwartz.

He grew up in a happy catholic home and had one brother and five sisters. He liked to run, swim and play sports with other neighborhood children.

As a young boy Fr. Al went to Holy Name church and school in washington, Dc. He served Mass daily and made his First communion and Confirmation there too!

He felt called to the priesthood so he went to St. charles Minor Seminary—a school that prepared him to become a priest.

Called to sainthood...TO be a SaInT IS TO lIVe a

lIFe OF HerOIC VIrTUeCardinal Donald Wuerl reminds us that reflecting on the life of this ‘venerable’ man is “Not only a great joy and inspiration but it is a beautiful invitation to all young people to know God has something in store for everyone of us. If we simply open our hearts and let God speak to us, wonderful things can happen.”

We are all called to be saints of God!

Fr. Al’s mission work began soon after he became a priest. On December 8, 1957 he left washington, Dc and moved to the country of Korea then the Philippines and Mexico where he served for the rest of his life. Because of his work with the poor, Fr. Al decided to live a life of poverty.

He moved into a very small shack that had many rats and bugs. Fr. Al stayed in this small house for four years before he moved so he could set up a program to protect children.

living in this house was hard, but Fr. Al said this helped him to grow in his faith. He was happy.

Aloysius Schwartz becomes fr. schwartz Missionary Work

“the most powerful weapons to overcome fear, trials,

obstacles, and temptations are prayer and sacrifice.”