Rome – An Italian judge dismissed an atheist’s case that a small-town priest should stand trial for asserting that Jesus Christ existed, a lawyer said Friday.
The priest’s accuser, Luigi Cascioli, contended the Roman Catholic Church has been deceiving people for 2 000 years with a fable that Christ existed and he accused the priest of violating two laws with the assertion.
"The judge has ordered that the case be shelved," said Severo Bruno, a lawyer for the prelate, Reverend Enrico Righi.
"The Reverend Righi is very satisfied and moved," Bruno said. "He is an old, small-town parish priest who never would have thought he’d be in the spotlight for something like this."
‘He is an old, small-town parish priest who never would have thought he’d be in the spotlight’ The ruling was released on Thursday in Viterbo, a town north of Rome. In his decision, Judge Gaetano Mautone also said prosecutors should investigate Cascioli for possible slander, the lawyer said.
Cascioli, a 72-year-old retired agronomist, filed a criminal complaint against Righi, his old schoolmate, in 2002 after Righi wrote in a parish bulletin that Jesus did indeed exist, and that he was born of a couple named Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth. [Source]
About what I expected would happen, though I kind of wished the trial would have gone ahead. If no publicity is bad publicity it might have had some interesting repercussions.
4 comments
Interestingly enough,
I had read a newspaper (it was realy printed on paper – I held it in my hands!) account of this row and the reporter made the observation that the plaintiff was using this as an entree to appeal, which he hoped woudl eventually come before an E.U. Court in hopes that said court would take a step toward criminalizing belief in Christ – that is, if the belief is held as anything more than mere superstition!
…he was born of a couple named Mary and Joseph…
Anyone else notice something wrong with that sentence?
No, there is nothing wrong with the sentence. Let’s say a woman has an affair and gets pregnant (but doesn’t tell anyone but her husband, doesn’t get divorced etc). The baby is still born to, or of, or from, whatever – that couple. Not that I am comparing Our Lady to an adulterous sunner, but you get the point!
I am GLAD that the case was shelved. I have only heard about Italian courtcases, but suffice to say that it would be a terrible burden on Fr. Righi.