Luis Almarcha Hernández

Luis Almarcha Hernández (October 14, 1887 – December 17, 1974) was a Spanish cleric and politician, and a bishop of León from 1944 to 1970. He also served as procurator in the Cortes during the Francoist regime.

Hernández was born at Orihuela, in the province of Alicante.

He began his ecclesiastical studies at the local Diocesan Seminary at the age of eleven, studying humanities, philosophy, and theology, and ten years later, in 1908, he moved to Rome, where he obtained his doctorate in canon law at the Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest on July 17, 1910, and on his return to Orihuela two years later, became a canon priest at the cathedral there. He was named professor of the seminary there and Prefect of Discipline. In 1923, he was named cantor of the cathedral, and in 1924, general vicar of the diocese.

Almarcha became an important figure in the diocese before and during the time of the Second Spanish Republic because the bishop of the diocese, Javier Irastorza, was frequently absent. In 1914, Almarcha founded the Syndicate of Catholic Workers of Our Lord Jesus (Sindicato de Obreros Católicos de Nuestro Padre Jesús), and 5 years later, founded the Federation of Agricultural Catholic Syndicates of Vega Baja del Segura (Federación de Sindicatos Agrícolas Católicos de la Vega Baja del Segura).

He served as an advisor to the bank Caja de Ahorros de Nuestra Señora de Monserrate and founded the Catholic Circle of Saint Joseph for Workers (Círculo Católico de San José para Obreros), which later became the Social Catholic House of Orihuela (Casa Social Católica de Orihuela), and in 1933, founded the Social Institute (Instituto Social). He served as editor from 1914 of the magazine La Lectura Popular, and also of El Pueblo (from 1931).

...
Wikipedia