page_title: Antonio Añoveros Ataún
section_title: Family and youth
hierarchical_section_title: Antonio Añoveros Ataún / Family and youth
caption_attribution_description: Español: Vista exterior de la iglesia del siglo XII de San Nicolás, con su remate barroco en ladrillo. Pamplona (Navarra)
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: Añoveros' paternal family originated from the Madrid province. His grandfather, Guillermo Añoveros Ribas (1817–1897), settled in Navarre due to his duties of Carabinero de la Hacienda Nacional, the Spanish customs service. Antonio's father, Julio Añoveros Monasterio (1867–1939), directed Tabacalera de Navarra, local section of the Spanish tobacco monopoly, and worked for the Pamplona city council as secretary of Junta de Beneficiencia de Navarra. Since 1928 he was elected Teniente de Alcalde and presided over Comisión de Beneficiencia; he was also recognized as author of pieces posted to local periodicals. Antonio's maternal family came from central Navarre; his mother, Claudia Ataún Sanz (1881–1975), originated from Irurozqui. The couple had 4 children.
  Upon insistence of his devoutly religious mother Antonio was first educated in the Marist Brothers' college in Pamplona. Having obtained the bachillerato he moved to Aragon, studying derecho civil at Universidad de Zaragoza. According to some sources he pursued law studies and sacerdotal education at the same time, according to the other he abandoned university witnessing the rising tide of militant secularization; determined to confront it he returned to his native city and entered the seminar. He was ordained priest in 1933 and posted to the St. Nicholas parish in Pamplona. In the mid-1930s he assumed teaching duties at the Pamplona seminary and animated local Acción Católica.
  None of the sources consulted provides information on Añoveros' political activities prior to the July 1936 coup. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War his older brother, Julio Añoveros Ataún, joined the Carlist Requeté militia; Antonio followed suit and enlisted as a chaplain. The exact unit, timing and location of his service are not known; one author claims he served in hospitals and similar facilities, though also in a machine-gun battalion. He is recorded as having administered sacraments also to the Republican soldiers. Añoveros was involved in matanza de Valcardera, the second-largest mass execution in Navarre; he was one of 6 priests confessing 52 inmates about to be executed. He later claimed to have been terrified by the scene and named the day the worst in his life; he turned gray the following night. None of the few witness accounts available – including his own – notes he protested the killings. Some authors claim the local hierarchy was aware and approved of the executions.
  Prior to the Unification Decree Añoveros featured prominently in plans, drafted by Junta Nacional Carlista de Guerra and to be executed upon taking Madrid. They envisioned formation of Christianization Columns, units entrusted with propaganda and religious activities until the Church structures are re-established in the capital; Añoveros was marked to head the Navarrese column, supposed to act in the Puerta del Sol quarter. These plans were cancelled by political developments within the Nationalist camp; Añoveros kept serving as a chaplain and was noted in Carlist auxiliary units on the Castellon front in 1938. He did show up in Madrid carrying out proselytizing activities once the city had been taken in 1939: he was noted as engaged in distribution of El Pensamiento Navarro, the sole Carlist daily spared amalgamation in the Francoist propaganda machinery.
caption: San Nicolas church, Pamplona
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