Bernardo Álvarez Afonso
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Bernardo Álvarez Afonso (Breña Alta, island of La Palma, in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, July 29, 1949) is a Spanish Catholic bishop, since September 2005 bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife) (Spanish: Diócesis Nivariense). On September 4, 2005 he was declared and credited bishop by Pope Benedict XVI, in the Iglesia de la Concepción (then provisional cathedral of the diocese, as the Cathedral of La Laguna was under renovation), the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Tenerife; on the same date he took canonical possession of the diocese. Álvarez is the second canary bishop in governing the diocese after Bishop Domingo Pérez Cáceres.
In a 2007 interview with local paper La Opinión de Tenerife,[1] he stated "There are adolescents of thirteen years of age who are minors and are totally in agreement and furthermore desire it. Even if you take care they provoke you." This led to a headline reading "Bishop of Tenerife blames child abuse on the children".[2]