Lluís Maria Xirinacs i Damians

Lluís Maria Xirinacs

Lluís Maria Xirinacs i Damians (born August 6, 1932 in Barcelona , † August 11, 2007 in Ogassa , Ripollès ) was a Catalan senator, priest and independence activist.

biography

In 1955, Xirinacs became a priest. At the age of 34 he began to fight against the links between church and state. In the sixties, at the time of Franco's dictatorship (1939–1975) in Spain , he initiated the establishment of an “Assembly of Catalonia” (Assamblea de Catalunya) with hunger strikes . He was subsequently sentenced to prison in 1972 and between 1974 and 1975. From 1975 he pioneered various Catalan initiatives. After holding a demonstrative stand guard in front of the "Model" prison in Barcelona for over a year and nine months, twelve hours a day, an amnesty law was enforced for Catalan prisoners. He received much recognition for his political life and his pacifist actions in defense of Catalonia's independence from Spain.

With a majority of more than half a million votes, he became Senator for Barcelona in 1977. In this and the following year he approached the revolutionary Catalan independence movement. In 1980 he led the candidacy for the “Left Bloc of National Liberation” (BEAN), for the first elections to the Catalan parliament since Francoism.

From 1980, Xirinacs left active politics to work on his political issues. In 1990 he left his priesthood without losing his Christian faith and its roots, after decades of disagreement between his path and that of the official Catholic Church. In 1997 he became a doctor of philosophy . To promote the independence of the Catalan countries, he went on a hunger strike in Barcelona's town hall square, Plaça Sant Jaume .

In 2004 he was sentenced to two years in prison by the Spanish national court for an address on September 11, 2002 in which he confessed himself to be a friend of ETA and Batasuna (to express his understanding of their political background). He was released early for health reasons.

death

On August 11, 2007, his body was found in a forest near Ripollès. Xirinacs chose to commit suicide and wanted to spend his last days "in his solitude and silence".

He left a will (dated August 6, 2007) in which he describes his death as an "act of sovereignty" and in which he recalls that he lived for 75 years in occupied, oppressed Catalan countries (occupied by the Spanish, French and Italian states ). He also accuses the Catalonian political leadership of cowardice regarding Catalan nationalism.

testament

Testament in Catalan

ACTE DE SOBIRANIA
   He viscut esclau setanta-cinc anys /
   en uns Països Catalans /
   ocupats per Espanya, per França (i per Itàlia) /
   des de fa segles./
   He viscut lluitant contra aquesta esclavitud /
   tots els anys de la meva vida adulta./
   Una nació esclava, com un individu esclau, /
   és una vergonya de la humanitat i de l'univers. /
   Però una nació mai no serà lliure /
   si els seus fills no volen arriscar /
   llur vida en el seu alliberament i defensa./
   Amics, accepteu-me /
   aquest final absolut victoriós /
   de la meva contesa, /
   per contrapuntar la covardia /
   dels nostres líders, massificadors del poble./
   Avui la meva nació /
   esdevé sobirana absoluta en mi./
   Ells han perdut un esclau./
   ella és una mica més lliure, /
   perquè jo sóc en vosaltres, amics!

Lluís M. Xirinacs i Damians
Barcelona, ​​6 d'agost de 2007

Source: Center d'Estudis Joan Bardina

Testament in English translation

ACT OF SOVEREIGNITY
   I lived as a slave for 75 years /
   in a Catalan Countries /
   occupied by Spain, by France (and by Italy) /
   for several centuries./
   I lived fighting against this slavery /
   during all the years of my adult life./
   A slave nation, as a slave individual, /
   is a shame for the humanity and the universe./
   But a nation will never be free /
   if their children do not want to risk /
   their lives for her freedom and defense ./
   My friends, accept me /
   this absolutely victorious end /
   of my contest, /
   in order to contrast it to the cowardice /
   of our leaders, massifiers of the people./
   Today, my nation /
   becomes absolutely sovereign in me./
   They have lost a slave, /
   She is a bit more free, /
   because I am in you, my friends!

Lluís M. Xirinacs i Damians
Barcelona, ​​August 6, 2007

Web links

• Lluís Maria Xirinacs :: Inici. official website of Lluís Maria Xirinacs. In: xirinacs.cat. (Catalan).