Initial Hearing In Italy On Charges of False Assertions About Jesus

In Viterbo, Italy, according to the AP, a hearing was held on Friday to determine whether a parish priest should stand trial on alleged violations of two Italian laws-- "abuse of popular belief" and "impersonation". (See prior posting.) The widely noted case involves an atheist, Luigi Cascioli, who filed a criminal complaint accusing parish priest Enrico Righi, accusing him of deceiving people with the fable that Christ existed. Lawyers for Righi and Cascioli made their arguments in a brief closed hearing before Judge Gaetano Mautone. Righi's attorney, Severo Bruno, told reporters that his client is innocent because "he said and wrote what he has the duty to say and write." He told the judge that Righi was not asserting a historical fact when he wrote of Jesus' existence, but rather "an expression of theological principles." "When Don Righi spoke about Christ's humanity ... he was affirming that he needs to be considered as a man. What his name is, where he comes from or who his parents are is secondary," he said.