Francisco Álvarez Martínez
Francisco Álvarez Martínez is the former archbishop of the Spanish see of Toledo and a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church.Biography
He was born in Santa Eulalia de Ferroñes, Llanera, Asturias. He was appointed bishop of Tarazona on 13 April 1973 by Pope Paul VI. He was consecrated by Luigi Dadaglio, Apostolic Nuncio to Spain, assisted by Pedro Cantero Cuadrado, Archbishop of Zaragoza, and José Méndez Asensio, Archbishop of Pamplona. He was transferred to the see of Calahora y La Calzada-Logroño on 20 December 1976 and then to the see of Orihuela-Alicante on 12 May 1989. He was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Toledo on 23 June 1995.
He was made Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Regina Pacis a Monte Verde in the consistory of 21 February 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Toledo on 24 October 2002. Three months before his 80th birthday, Álvarez Martínez was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.
