Christians In the Dock (Again)

If one needed any more proof that we are living in a post-Christian, openly hostile culture, then consider the plight of Father Enrico Righi. A militant Italian atheist named Luigi Cascioli has taken Fr. Righi to court after the priest denounced Mr. Cascioli in a parish newsletter for claiming that no reliable evidence exists which proves Christ even lived. Father Righi is being charged with "abusing popular credulity," according to the Times of London. This offense is an actual crime in Italy. An appeals court judge has ordered Fr. Righi to appear and prove that Jesus Christ existed.

The language of the case is interesting. In essence, Fr. Righi is being charged with duping people into believing something which is patently untrue. Now I doubt that Fr. Righi will do any jail time, given that Italy is still an overwhelmingly Catholic country, but the affair is more serious than it seems. Like the Apostle Paul, Christians are being brought into courts of secular justice to give an account of their faith and justify it according to the historical, scientific, and philosophical standards of our day. All of this signals the true demise of Christendom, and offers the Church an opportunity to witness (for which the Greek word is martyr) to Christ, and provide the reason for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15).