Cassià Maria Just

Cassià Maria Just i Riba (; 22 August 1926 – 12 March 2008) was a Spanish Catalan cleric, abbot of Santa Maria de Montserrat from 1966 to 1989.

Biography

Early life He was born on 22 August 1926 in Barcelona. At the age of nine, he joined the Escolania de Montserrat to study music. He became a member of the Order of Saint Benedict as a novice of Santa Maria de Montserrat on 6 August 1943. On 27 August 1950 he was ordained a priest. His music studies, focused on the organ, continued in Rome and Paris until 1956. His studies allowed him to compose several polyphonic pieces. From 1957 to 1964 he was the master of novices of Montserrat. His management of the abbey is notable because it took place during an era of changes in Spain and in Catholicism, it was a few years after the Second Vatican Council and the last years of Franco's dictatorship and the Spanish transition to democracy.

In 1991 he was given the Cross of St. George award by the Generalitat de Catalunya. He believed the sexual morals of the Roman Catholic Church were outdated, and showed a favourable position towards the use of contraceptives. Cassià Maria also asked the Church to review its positions on homosexuality, euthanasia, and abortion.