banyon
01-28-2006, 01:52 AM
This seemed funny at 2:00 AM after many beers...
Court asked to decide: did Christ exist?
Barbara McMahon in Rome
Saturday January 28, 2006
The Guardian
Italian lawyer Severo Bruno does not usually have such important clients but yesterday he found himself representing Jesus Christ in court in a small town north of Rome. The central claim is whether Christ existed.
Atheist Luigi Cascioli, 72, says for 2,000 years the Catholic church has been deceiving people by perpetuating the myth Christ was a real person. He has filed a criminal lawsuit against his old school friend Father Enrico Righi, the parish priest in Bagnoregio, chosen because the 76-year-old cleric has written about the existence of Christ in his parish bulletin.
Mr Cascioli asserts the priest has committed fraud by "abusing popular belief" and that the church has been gaining financially by passing off John of Gamala, the son of Judas from Gamala, as Christ.
Yesterday the case went to court for a closed-door hearing. Judge Gaetano Mautone has yet to decide if the case will continue. Afterwards Mr Bruno said he was confident there was no case to answer. "Don Righi is innocent because he said and wrote what he has the duty to say and write," he said. "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."
Mr Cascioli's lawyer, Mauro Fonzo, said the matter warranted discussion.
"When somebody states a wrong fact, abusing the ignorance of people, and gains from that, then that is one of the gravest crimes," Mr Cascioli said. If the case is allowed to continue, the court will appoint experts to review the historical data, with the gospels as part of evidence submitted.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,1696941,00.html
I wonder if the pope will be cross-examined? :)
Court asked to decide: did Christ exist?
Barbara McMahon in Rome
Saturday January 28, 2006
The Guardian
Italian lawyer Severo Bruno does not usually have such important clients but yesterday he found himself representing Jesus Christ in court in a small town north of Rome. The central claim is whether Christ existed.
Atheist Luigi Cascioli, 72, says for 2,000 years the Catholic church has been deceiving people by perpetuating the myth Christ was a real person. He has filed a criminal lawsuit against his old school friend Father Enrico Righi, the parish priest in Bagnoregio, chosen because the 76-year-old cleric has written about the existence of Christ in his parish bulletin.
Mr Cascioli asserts the priest has committed fraud by "abusing popular belief" and that the church has been gaining financially by passing off John of Gamala, the son of Judas from Gamala, as Christ.
Yesterday the case went to court for a closed-door hearing. Judge Gaetano Mautone has yet to decide if the case will continue. Afterwards Mr Bruno said he was confident there was no case to answer. "Don Righi is innocent because he said and wrote what he has the duty to say and write," he said. "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."
Mr Cascioli's lawyer, Mauro Fonzo, said the matter warranted discussion.
"When somebody states a wrong fact, abusing the ignorance of people, and gains from that, then that is one of the gravest crimes," Mr Cascioli said. If the case is allowed to continue, the court will appoint experts to review the historical data, with the gospels as part of evidence submitted.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,1696941,00.html
I wonder if the pope will be cross-examined? :)