Founder & History | Sisters of Mary World Villages For Children

Father Al’s Life

A Saint in the Making

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, then finished his B.A. degree at Maryknoll College, and went on to study 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 the service of the poor. After visiting Banneux, where the Virgin of the Poor appeared, he was more inspired to dedicate his priesthood to the service of the poor in fulfillment of her message.

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

Thanks to the financial contributions of his friends and benefactors, Father Al built the first Villages for Children in South Korea. Within these Boystowns and Girlstowns, and together with the Sisters of Mary, he set on to take care of, educate, and give a bright future to those who needed it the most: orphans, abandoned children, and those coming from the poorest families. He also built hospitals and tuberculosis sanatoriums for very indigent patients as well as hospices for the homeless, handicapped elderly men, disabled children, and unwed mothers.