SILANG, Cavite, Jan. 27, 2015—“All of us ‘children’ of Fr. Al, not only here in the Philippines, but also in Mexico and Korea, are very glad and proud that we already have our own venerable who will become a saint in the future.”
This was what Rodolfo Rey Openiano, Jr., an alumnus of Sisters of Mary School in Cavite, told CBCP News in an interview in reaction to the news from the Vatican confirming that the American-born Servant of God Fr. Aloysius Schwartz, also known as Fr. Al, has been declared a “Venerable,” putting him a step closer to sainthood.
“All graduates of Sisters of Mary schools are elated that our prayers for the cause of our beloved founder, the Champion of the Poor, our Hero, Fr. Al, has been heard,” Openiano added.
According to a Vatican Radio report, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, had a meeting with Pope Francis recently during which the Holy Father authorized the body to promulgate the decree citing “Servant of God Aloysius Schwartz, American diocesan priest, founder of the Sisters of Mary of Banneux and the Brothers of Christ (1930-1992),” for his “Heroic Virtues.”
The decree dated Jan. 23 officially declares Servant of God Aloysius Schwartz a venerable of the Catholic Church.
Ven. Aloysius Schwartz died in March 16, 1992 of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and is buried at the Children’s Village for Girls (Girlstown) in Silang, Cavite, Philippines.
For further information, visit www.fatheralsainthood.org and www.facebook.com/alschwartzsainthood?fref=ts. (Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)
