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Francisco Álvarez Martínez Cleric

Francisco Álvarez Martínez (born 14 July 1925 in Santa Eulalia de Ferroñes, Llanera, Asturias) is the former archbishop of the Spanish see of Toledo and a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church.He was appointed bishop of Tarazona on 13 April 1973 by Pope Paul VI. He was consecrated by Luigi Dadaglio, nuncio in Spain, assisted by Pedro Cantero Cuadrado, archbishop of Zaragoza, and by José Méndez Asensio, archbishop of Pamplona. He was transferred to the see of Calahora y La Calzada-Logroño on 20 December 1976 where he remained until his transfer to the see of Orihuela-Alicante on 12 May 1989. He was promoted to the metropolitan and primatial see of Toledo on 23 June 1995 just before his 70th birthday. He was created and proclaimed Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Regina Pacis a Monte Verde in the consistory of 21 February 2001 by John Paul II'>Pope John Paul II. He resigned the pastoral government of the archdiocese, 24 October 2002. Barely eligible to vote at only three months before his 80th birthday, Álvarez Martínez was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.