Italy: Forget the US debate over intelligent design versus evolution. An Italian court is tackling Jesus - and whether the Catholic Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years ago.
The case pits against each other two men in their 70s, who are from the same central Italian town and even went to the same seminary school in their teenage years. The defendant, Enrico Righi, went on to become a priest writing for the parish newspaper. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court later this month.
"I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," Mr Cascioli siad.
Mr Cascioli says Fr Righi, and by extension the whole church, broke two Italian laws. The first is "abuso di credulita popolare" (abuse of popular belief), meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is "sostituzione di persona", or impersonation.
"The church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala," Mr Cascioli claimed, referring to the first-century Jew who fought against the Roman army.
A court in Viterbo will hear from Fr Righi, who has yet to be indicted, at a January 27th preliminary hearing meant to determine whether the case has enough merit to go forward. "In my book, The Fable of Christ, I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ's existence," Mr Cascioli said.
Fr Righi (76) sounded frustrated by the case and baffled as to why Mr Cascioli - who, like him, came from the town of Bagnoregio - singled him out in his crusade against the church.
"We're both from Bagnoregio, both of us. We were in seminary together. Then he took a different path and we didn't see each other any more," Fr Righi said. "Since I'm a priest, and I write in the parish newspaper, he is now suing me because I 'trick' the people." Fr Righi claims there is plenty of evidence to support the existence of Jesus, including historical texts.
"Cascioli says he didn't exist. And I said that he did," he said. "The judge will decide if Christ exists or not."
Even Mr Cascioli admits that the odds are against him, especially in Catholic Italy.
"It would take a miracle to win," he joked. - (Reuters)