Social workers from the Vicaría de la Solidaridad
A Professional Career (1973 - 1983)

The Vicariate of Solidarity was born from the decision of Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez to create an institution of Christian inspiration that would extend solidarity to all victims of state violence and translate that mandate into the promotion of human rights in accordance with the dignity of every human being.

The social workers who worked there, being the first to receive the relatives of the disappeared detainees, were recognized as the visible face of the Church to the sufferers. Theirs was a professional history as well as a history of hospitality and a lay history, because the actions carried out were linked to listening, welcoming, and helping, and because the main subject in the aforementioned institutions was made up of laymen and laywomen.

Professional women, women relatives of the victims of the military government, and grassroots women as well, learned together the meaning of the parable of the good Samaritan, which became the evangelical key to this history of solidarity. This book contributes, with rigor and empathy, to the pursuit of stories and research that assist us in the essential task of memory.