Lluís Maria Xirinacs

On 11 August 2007, he was found dead in the woods Ogassa, Ripollès, having committed suicide according to some sources., even if the autopsy confirmed it was not. He left a note in his workplace explaining his decision, where he criticized the cowardice of Catalan politicians:

In 2005 he was sentenced to 2 years in prison for glorifying terrorism.

Madrid's National Court tried him in absentia (Xirinacs failed to appear) and sentenced him to two years in prison for glorifying terrorism. On 25 October 2005, when he was 74, he was arrested by Spanish Police when he visited Ciutat Vella commissary in order to renew his identity document. Two days later, he was sent to prison, but in the very same afternoon, the Attorney General decided to free him, invoking humanitarian reasons due to his age.

In 2004, Catalan Summer University awarded him the Canigó prize. During that time, he continued his political commitment within Fundació Randa.

On 11 September 2002, within the National Day of Catalonia reivindicative speeches in Fossar de les Moreres, he declared:

On 17 December 2002, he stated to the jury in his defence:

In 1990 he abandoned his priesthood vows. In 2000, he started to protest again, sitting in Plaça Sant Jaume daily for the independence of the Catalan Countries.

«Fundació Tercera Via" (Third-Way Foundation), currently "Fundació Randa-Lluís M. Xirinacs" (Randa-Lluís Maria Xirinacs Foundation) was founded on 27 October 1987, by Xirinacs and a group of his friends.

By 1980, he left active party politics. In 1984, along with Agustí Chalaux, he founded the Centre d'Estudis Joan Bardina, where he wanted to explore deeper into a new economical, political and social model.

In 1977, in the first Spanish elections after the end of Francoist Spain, he became senator for Barcelona as an independent candidate. In 1979, he was a candidate for the Spanish Congress of Deputies in a coalition known as Left Bloc of National Freedom (Bloc d'Esquerra d'Alliberament Nacional or BEAN). This reinvigorated the spirit of the former Assembly of Catalonia, of which he also was one of the main promoters. Later on, BEAN presented candidates in the 1980 Catalan Parliament elections; but, in both cases, it did not obtain any representation.

In the 1960s and 1970s, he conducted several hunger strikes, the first a long one against the relationship between church and state in Francoist Spain. He was imprisoned twice (1972 and 1974–75). He declared himself a follower of Gandhi's ideals and employed non-violence in his struggles. For example, he spent twelve hours a day for a year and nine months standing in front of a Barcelona prison until the approval of an amnesty law for political prisoners. As a result of all these actions, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year from 1975 to 1977.

Lluís Maria Xirinacs i Damians (Catalan pronunciation: [ʎuˈiz məˈɾi.ə ʃiɾiˈnaks]; 6 August 1932 – 11 August 2007) was a Catalan politician, writer, catholic cleric and advocate for the independence of Catalonia.

He was born in Barcelona in 1932, and he became a priest when he was 22. In 1990 he abandoned the priesthood.