Hogar de Cristo
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| Motto | Love and Dignity |
|---|---|
| Formation | 19 October 1944 |
| Founder | Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga |
| Type | Charity Institution |
| Legal status | Foundation |
| Headquarters |
 Chile Estación Central Santiago, Chile
|
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Chaplain
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Pablo Walker, S.J. |
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Director
|
Verónica Monroy |
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President
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José Musalem Sarquis |
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Language
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Spanish |
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Key people
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Volunteers |
| Affiliations | , Fundación Emplea, Fundación Súmate, Fundación Rostros Nuevos |
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Volunteers
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Anonymous |
| Slogan | In all, loving and serving |
| Mission | To welcome the poor with love and dignity |
| Website | www |
Hogar de Cristo ("Home of Christ", in Spanish pronounced /o.'gaɾ.ðe.'kɾis.to/) is a Chilean public charity created by Saint Alberto Hurtado, a Jesuit priest, on October 19, 1944. He was declared as saint by the Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Currently, this foundation serves monthly more than 25,000 people in extreme poverty, in the more than 500 works throughout the country. It is led by Fr. Pablo Walker and is part of the works of the Jesuits in Chile.
Hogar de Cristo was born as an initiative of the Jesuit priest Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, who wanted to create a place of refuge for street people. He began a campaign, mainly through the newspaper "El Mercurio", that led to the foundation of the Home. On 21 December 1944 he laid the cornerstone of the headquarters located on Bernal del Mercado Street, in the commune of Estación Central, Santiago. The Foundation received legal status in 1945, and the first inn was created. The following year, the inn of Estación Central was opened, which now functions as the institutional headquarter.
Hogar de Cristo has exceeded its original vision and, thanks to a talented group of volunteers, many different areas of social action have been included. Whereas initially it was not more than an overnight home, it has come to serve the terminally ill, destitute elderlies, young people with substance abuse problems, and others.
Fr. Hurtado, the Home's founder and chaplain, died in 1952 and was succeeded by Fr. Guillermo Balmaceda. In 1955, the Foundation began to spread into the rest of the country, to Antofagasta and Los Ángeles where the first branch-offices were inaugurated (1957). The Foundation opened its first nursing home in 1954, the first daylight opened in 1973, and the first central high risk home in 1981.
On 3 April 1987, Pope John Paul II visited the offices of Home of Christ in Santiago, as part of his visit to Chile during his six-day journey. It was this pope who beatified Alberto Hurtado in 1994, the same year when construction began on Padre Hurtado's chapel and tomb in Estación Central, which was opened on November 1995.
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