Father Lorenzo Alvarez
Redemptorist
Professor of the Academy 1975 - 2006
January 28, 1934 - November 1, 2007
Professor Emeritus of the Alphonsian Academy Lorenzo Alvarez
Verdes, C.Ss.R. passed away November 1, 2007. He was
residing in the Redemptorist community of the Instituto de
Ciencias Morales de Madrid. A massive heart attack claimed his life
only a few hours after having been admitted to a local
hospital. Funeral services were held in Madrid.
Professor Lorenzo Alvarez was born in San Pedro de Ceque (Zamora),
Spain on January 28, 1934. At the age of 11 years, he entered the Redemptorist minor seminary of Nuestra
Señora del Espino in Burgos where he completed his middle studies. His studies in
Philosophy and Theology were undertaken in a number of different cities: Santa Fe
(Granada), Astorga (León) and Valladolid. He was ordained to the priesthood on
January 11, 1959. Father Alvarez would return to Granada in 1960, earning his
License in Theology, at the Jesuit College of the Sacred Heart. Studying in Granada
afforded him the opportunity to attend the College of Semitic Languages at the State
University. Years later he would spend a number of months in Israel, perfecting his
knowledge of Modern Hebrew at the Ulpán Meier in Haifa.
After teaching two years (1961-1962) at the Redemptorist Theological
Seminary in Valladolid, he was transferred to Rome to complete his studies in Biblical
Sciences at the Pontifical Biblical Institute where he earned his License in Sacred
Scripture in 1964. In 1979, he returned to the Pontifical Biblical Institute to earn
his Doctorate in Sacred Scripture.
Teaching was Father Lorenzo’s life’s work. Immediately
upon completing his University studies, he was named Professor of Sacred Scripture and
Biblical Languages at the Redemptorist Theologate in Valladolid (1960-1962; 1964-1970). In
1971, he was named Professor of Biblical Moral Theology in the newly formed Instituto
Superior de Ciencias Morales of the Redemptorists. He remained in this capacity until
1974. In 1975, he came to Rome as Professor of Moral Biblical Theology at the Alphonsian
Academy of the Pontifical Lateran University. He has named a Full Professor on September
16, 1981 and a Tenured Professor on November 23, 1985. Father Alvarez
ended his long service to the Academy in 2006 when he became a Professor
Emeritus.
He also conducted classes in the Biblical Sciences in other
Universities including the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (1970-1971), The Remote
Learning Institute of Theology of Madrid (1971-1974), the Theological Faculty of the
Sacred Heart in Granada (1972-1974) and the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome
(1978-1979).
His teaching extended beyond the strictly University setting to
include in particular renewal courses such as those sponsored by the Divine Word Fathers
(Nemi), the Pontifical Spanish College of Rome, the Hermanas Hospitalarias (Rome), etc. In
addition to these he also directed courses in various lay pastoral formation centers
in and other dioceses of Italy.
Father Alvarez was a co-founding member of the Spanish Biblical
Association (ABE, founded in 1972), at whose annual meetings he presented a number of
papers.
In his teaching and writings,
Father Alvarez paid special attention to the problems in the area of methodology and
hermeneutics, in particular the structural and sociological methods. The theme which he
developed over his long years of teaching has been the highlighting of the
"liberating" character of the message of salvation. His preferred area of
concentration was, without a doubt, the ideas and thought of Saint Paul, on which his
research centered since his doctoral dissertation to his most recent
publications.
He has always considered it a privilege to be able to "place on the
table of this great current ethical debate the irreplaceable contribution of the
'Revealed Message', and to be able to do it, as St. Paul says, 'with an
unveiled face' (2 Cor 3, 18) and without any complexities, as it should be done by those
who are guided by the Spirit of Truth. This is a privilege which attains a particular
importance on being able to lend this service within an institute like the Alphonsian
Academy, open to the wide horizon of hope in the contemporary world, represented by our
many students who come to us from all the continents of the world."
We ask you to remember Father Lorenzo Alvarez in your prayers. We
ask this especially of all those who have known, admired and
shared a closeness with him as professor and guide and friend.
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