, 1987), was a Spanish prelate, Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cadiz y Ceuta

The Roman Catholic diocese of Cádiz y Ceuta is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Spain. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Seville....

 (1964–1971), Diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 in which he had been Co-Adjuctor Bishop from 1954 to 1964, and finally Bishop of Bilbao (1971–1978).

First as Co-Adjuctor Bishop and then as Bishop of Cádiz, he participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

.

As Bishop of Bilbao, he was seen as ideologically close to Basque nationalism

Basque nationalism

Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...

 and was a major player in a famous revolutionary incident towards the end of Francoist Spain. On 24 February 1974, he published a pastoral letter requesting the recognition of the Basque

Basque people

The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

 cultural and linguistic identity. This occurred several months after the assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco

Luis Carrero Blanco

Don Luis Carrero Blanco, 1st Duke of Carrero Blanco, Grandee of Spain was a Spanish admiral and long-time confidant of dictator Francisco Franco.- Biography :...

 by ETA

ETA

ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...

, president of the Council of Ministers and supposedly Franco

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

's successor. He was accused of launching subversive attacks against national unity. He was kept under virtual house arrest and was pressured to resign his position and go into exile. He defied the Spanish government by accepting such a fate only if Pope Paul VI asked him to. Pope Paul VI reacted by threatening to excommunicate

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...

 the then Prime Minister Arias Navarro, (an important matter because Catholicism was the state religion at the time). In the end, the Spanish Government was forced to lift their restrictions.

Ever since the position of the Basque prelature has been radically different to the rest of the Church in Spain

Roman Catholicism in Spain

The Spanish Catholic Church, part of the global Roman Catholic Church, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, curia in Rome, and the Conference of Spanish Bishops.-Statistics:...