A memorial Mass will be held on Sunday, April 6th at 3:30 p.m. at the Ricci Hall Chapel, 93 Pokfulam Road, to commemorate the first anniversary of Alvaro's passing (April 14th) and to celebrate the inauguration of his scholarship. There will be an informal coffee reception after Mass at the Ricci Hall dining room.

Fr. Jeffrey von Arx, SJ, a close friend of Alvaro of some 40 years and President of Fairfield University in Connecticut, will be coming to Hong Kong to be the celebrant along with Fr. Robert Ng and Fr. Marciano Baptista as co-celebrants. Fr. von Arx will share with us some of his thoughts and memories of Alvaro during Mass.

Born in Hong Kong in 1947 and a graduate of St. Joseph’s College, Alvaro completed his B.A. studies in HKU (where he stayed in Ricci Hall) in 1969 as a King Edward Scholar with first class honours.  He was awarded a DPhil from Balliol College, Oxford in 1980, and emerged as a world authority on the 18th Century historical musicologist, Dr. Charles Burney (1726 – 1814).  Alvaro then joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest in 1987.  During his Assistant Wardenship (1989-90) and Wardenship (1990-92) of Ricci Hall, Alvaro also taught in the then Department of English of HKU as Honorary Professor.  He spent the next two decades serving in Georgetown University as Associate Professor in the Department of English. Alvaro passed away in Baltimore, Maryland on 14 April 2013 while he was in retirement at the Colombiere Jesuit Community Residence.