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

                 As he spent his little free time helping at ragpickers’ camps in Europe, he was further inspired to dedicate his priesthood to serving the poor. After visiting Banneux, where the Virgin of the Poor appeared, he was more inspired to dedicate his priesthood to serving the poor in fulfillment of her message.

                    In 1957, Msgr. Schwartz was ordained as a diocesan priest. Later that year, he was assigned to Busan, South Korea. Shortly after, in 1961, he incorporated in the United States the dedicated not-for-profit organization that would raise funds to support his projects—originally known as Korean Relief. Recognizing that he needed help leading and growing his charitable mission, he founded the religious congregation of the Sisters of Mary to serve the poorest of the poor in 1964. 

                  In 1989, he was afflicted with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which he accepted with joy and serenity as a gift from God. His illness made him immobile but even in a wheelchair, he continued to fulfill his duties with joy. He celebrated mass with much devotion. He also spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament, praying the rosary, hearing confessions, and heroically preaching in words and examples the virtues of truth, justice, chastity, charity, and humility. His love for God and the poor consumed him. He did not only help the poor but also he lived poorly. On March 16, 1992, he breathed his last at the Girlstown in Manila. He was buried in Silang, Cavite.

                 The Archdiocesan Cause for his Beatification and Canonization was formally opened in Manila on December 10, 2003, and has already been submitted to the Congregation of Saints in Rome in June 2004. The faithful are encouraged to pray and ask for Msgr. Al’s intercession favors and miracles be submitted to Fr. Al’s Commission Office in Biga II, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

                                  Pope Francis orders the publication of the Decree on the heroic virtues of Msgr. Aloysius Schwartz, thus bestowing on him the title of “Venerable.”