In 1865, Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Andacollo was born as a chapel in honor of St. Vincent Ferrer to serve the people living to the west of the old downtown of Santiago, Chile. In 1890, a chaplain, Rev. Hernan Domeyko was assigned to the chapel. In 1901, the Archdiocese of Santiago gave permission for the construction of a church on the site of the old chapel. On Christmas Eve of 1902, the parishioners requested the construction of a church in honor of St. Vicent Ferrer and a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Andacollo. Rev. Malcolm Johnson, C.S.C. reported in 1987 that, in spite of extensive archival research, he could not uncover the reason for the change, but, from 1903 forward, the community would be referred to as the "Sanctuary of Our Lady of Andacollo." By 1912, the Sanctuary had grown in importance to the neighborhood that it was necessary to give it the designation of parish with Rev. Ladislao Godoy as its first pastor. By 1917, the parish census had grown to between 25,000 and 30,000 parishioners over a span of 100 city blocks. In 1943, Nicomedes Guzmán wrote his novel about the poverty of the neighborhood, "La sangre y la esperanza" , that frequently marks the presence of the parish in the life of the poor by the sound of the church's bells in key moments of the novel.
Formation of a Saint
In 1913, the parish school had 180 students. That year, a night school was opened in addition to the day school, given that so many students worked during the day. During this same period, a student from a prestigious Jesuit school, San Ignacio, volunteered at the parish and school. That student worked in the office, as librarian, and as banker for the parish's students and its worker center. This student later enrolled in law school, focus on labor law, before entering the seminary with the Jesuits. Today, he is known as St. Alberto Hurtado. St. Alberto Hurtado was a champion of youth and the poor. His ministry with both began at Andacollo.
Service to the Poor
From its inception, the parish served a large community of low-income persons. The needs always were greater than the resources. The parish responded creatively to remedy the massive needs. In 1906, a workers center was created. In 1911, the "Unión Protectora de Andacollo," a mutual benefit society or friendly society was formed. In 1915, the parish formed a conference of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Later, the parish was the seat of Catholic Action in Chile, a movement to bring Catholic social teaching into the public square.
On-going Service to the Poor
Today, this tradition of service continues at Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Andacollo. The parish serves long-time residents of the neighborhood as well as a growing immigrant population from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia. The parish has a dedicated meeting space for Alcoholics Anonymous. The parish has a thrift store as well as a soup kitchen for the elderly of the neighborhood. In 2011, FundaMor began a project attending to neighborhood children. FundaMor, the Congregation of Holy Cross' foundation that supervises homes for children in Chile, launched a "prevention" project in the parish. At no cost to the families, children from families with difficulties meet with a psychologist, a school psychologist, and a social worker to resolve family problems before the child would need to be removed from the home. Currently, the project attends to fifty children and has a waiting list.
Earthquakes
The 1985 Santiago earthquake provoked extensive damage to the church. It struck, in fact, during mass, and, while all escaped the church safely, the church tower fell. Nine months after the earthquake, on December 3, 1985, restoration work commenced. Almost a year to the day later, on December 6, 1986, the church was rededicated in a celebration of the Eucharist, presided over by Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno, then Archbishop of Santiago. In 1987, the parish set about restoring the office, meetings rooms, and soup kitchen. The 2010 Chile earthquake also rendered extensive damage to the church. For several weeks, the parish worshiped outdoors. Eventually, sufficient funds were raised to repair the interior of the church. The parish soup kitchen remains, needing significant structural reinforcement.
