a workaround employed by Vatican to dodge the concordat and deny Francoist Spain the opportunity to influence the process; the official government response claimed that the government demonstrated good will and consented. On the other hand, some scholars claim that Franco actually wanted Añoveros to land in Bilbao, hoping that his image of a popular hierarch would help to pacify the unruly region. This version seems corroborated by the fact that Consejo Presbiteral de Bilbao initially opposed Añoveros' nomination, reportedly concerned about his Carlist and Falangist record. Añoveros quickly identified himself as sympathetic towards Basque nationalism. He refused to attend official feasts along the Francoist hierarchs, established a good working relation with the local vehemently pro-Basque clerical entourage, and spoke in defense of persecuted nationalist clergymen; he also did his best to derail legal proceedings against those charged with subversive propaganda, like in a 1973 case of 4 priests from Portugalete. Hardly veiled conflict with Francoist Spain exploded in February 1974, when Añoveros issued a pastoral letter titled El Cristianismo, Mensaje de Salvación para los pueblo. In general it referred papal teaching, but at one point and in an almost Aesopian language it called for Basque cultural freedom and a change in governmental policy on regional rights. There is conflicting historiography on the issue; some authors consider the wording miscalibrated, others suggest it might have been intended as a test of officially declared good intentions. The document, issued 2 months after ETA terrorists assassinated Carrero Blanco, triggered the gravest crisis between Spain and the Church. The cabinet of Carlos Arias ordered Añoveros' house arrest and sent a plane to Bilbao to fly him out into exile, while some bishops threatened excommunication of Francoist officials in return. Franco, aware of unofficial papal support for the bishop and asked for moderation by the primate González Martín, has eventually overruled Arias and got the crisis defused while Añoveros was arranged to go on a long vacation. Añoveros returned to Bilbao during final months of Francoism, though at that time he was already suffering from cardiac problems and since 1976 he used to spend long periods away on treatment. In heat of the ongoing transición he tended to avoid political issues, though he used to meet new public officials; his sermons and letters focused rather on the Church, stressing its holy nature and steering clear of social rationalizations. In 1977 he was nominated Prince