page_title: Antonio Añoveros Ataún
section_title: Reception and legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Antonio Añoveros Ataún / Reception and legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: hoac hoac
context_page_description: Antonio Añoveros Ataún was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He is known mostly as a protagonist of the so-called "Añoveros case", a 1974 episode which marked the gravest crisis in relations between Francoist Spain and the Church. Though during the Civil War he joined Carlists, he is recognized chiefly as one of the most liberal members of the Spanish hierarchy during the late Francoism; he is appreciated especially in the Basque realm.
context_section_description: In the late 1960s Añoveros acquired sort of a celebrity status; in the mid-1970s "caso Añoveros" became a major event discussed nationwide and far abroad, earning him position of a political protagonist. However, following his resignation the media focus shifted away. At times and usually due to his health problems mentioned in the press as bishop emeritus, he is now referred to as "living in the shadow" during the 1980s; it was rather his nephew, Jaime Garcia Añoveros, who at that time attracted more attention. Añoveros' death was noted by all major Spanish media and acknowledged with highly sympathetic obituaries, which underlined his interest in social issues and highlighted the 1974 showdown. It is also with reference to "caso Añoveros" that he was being occasionally noted by the press afterwards. Its 30th anniversary in 2014 produced some commemorative notes, all of them hailing the protagonist and crediting him for pro-democratic posture, social sensitivity, support for regional identities and endorsing a modern Church. He is generally counted among most progressive sections of the Spanish episcopate during late Francoism. At times is referred to as a role model, juxtaposed against unprogressive sectors of present-day Spanish clergy, though some authors consider him a conservative. He is particularly appreciated within the Basque realm, where some media name him, along Mateo Múgica and José María Setién, the key or the most quoted bishop in the history of the national Church. Remembered as "a good shepherd", Añoveros has even earned a poem in Basque.
  Attempts to commemorate Añoveros in public space are relatively modest; he is honored by one street, a short backyard drive in Puerto Real near Cádiz. In 2015 the Bilbao diocese set up Fundación canónica autónoma de Centros Diocesanos Antonio Añoveros, intended to support local religious educational establishments. He earned no scientific monograph so far, be it either a major volume or a review article, though "caso Añoveros" is treated at length in few works on the Francoist era.
  Though overwhelmingly appreciated as contributing to democratic transformation of Spain, Añoveros did not escape some criticism. Within the Carlist realm already in 1974 he was considered a subversive progressist; a note by Traditionalist pundit Elías de Tejada ironically demanded that his call for honoring regional rights be met by restoring traditional Biscay regulations, which in turn would trigger fueros-based proceedings against Añoveros. A present-day Traditionalist intellectual, José Miguel Gambra, lines up Añoveros, and especially his stress on individual and collective liberties, within the trend which contributed to de-Christianization of Spain. Finally, some authors mention his name when referring to ambiguous stance of Basque hierarchs on nationalist violence, the position which raised concerns already at the time. They note that across the 1970s the bishops have never explicitly condemned the ETA terror campaign; while often voicing enigmatically against unspecified violence, they relativized the phenomenon by seeking its root causes in lack of civil liberties and heavy-handed policing.
caption: current HOAC logotype
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