Cardinal Francisco Alvarez Martinez, the retired Archbishop of Toledo, died in a hospital in Madrid on January 5 after a long illness, at the age of 96.

Ordained a priest in the Oviedo diocese in 1950, the future cardinal was named Bishop of Tarazona in 1973. After leading two other dioceses (Calahorra y la Calzada-Logrono and Orihuela-Alicante), he was named Archbishop of Toledo in 1995, serving there until his retirement in 2002. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II in 2001.