Italian Priest Faces Hearing This Week for Asserting Existence of Jesus Christ
Monday, Jan. 23, 2006
Posted: 2:08:25PM EST

A small-town parish priest in Italy will face a legal hearing this week after an atheist man accused him of unlawfully asserting that Jesus Christ existed.

Fr. Enrico Righi and his lawyers will appear in court this Friday because of a September 2002 complaint filed by Luigi Cascioli. Cascioli, a lifelong atheist, filed the complaint after Righi wrote in a parish bulletin that Jesus Christ was a historical figure born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, according to reports.

Cascioli, 74, based his complaint on two Italian laws that he asserts Righi violated: the “abuse of popular belief” – in which someone fraudulently deceives people, and “impersonation” – where someone benefits by assigning a false name to someone, according to AP.

The lifelong atheist says he has no problem with Christians freely professing their faith but wants to "denounce the abuse that the Catholic Church commits by availing itself of its prestige in order to inculcate – as if being real and historical – facts that are really just inventions," AP reported. story