Turin Cardinal Raps Rome District Attorney’s Legal Brief in Fabrini Case

The district attorney of Rome was chastised by a Roman Catholic Cardinal for advancing, in a legal brief, religious arguments that contradicted “in letter and spirit” the Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Jews. The criticism was expressed in a letter from Michele Cardinal Pellegrino, the Archbishop of Turin, to Father Ernesto Balducci of Rome. It was intended for use in the defense of Fabrizio Fabrini, a law instructor at the University of Florence, who was tried for interrupting a Palm Sunday church sermon in which a priest sought to justify the ancient charge of decide against the Jews. Mr. Fabrini received a two month suspended sentence and is appealing his conviction.

The district attorney, Dr. Alberto Antonucci, reopened the Fabrini case after the latter was acquitted. In his brief seeking a reversal of the acquittal, which was made public before the trial, he quoted Biblical passages to “prove” that the Jews were punished through the ages because they killed Christ. The content of the brief, in what amounted to little more than a case of disorderly conduct against Mr. Fabrini, outraged religious and lay leaders. Apparently under pressure, Dr. Antonucci substituted a new brief that was limited to the charges.

Cardinal Pellegrino wrote his letter two weeks before the trial. In it he said he was amazed that a high judicial officer, in an appeal against an acquittal, saw fit to inject theological matters and base an indictment on his own conclusions. He said it was “absurd and grotesque” to read a judicial writ that misquoted and misused Biblical passages for the express purpose of contradicting the “letter and the spirit” of the Declaration on the Jews. The letter was offered in Mr. Fabrini’s defense but he declined to have it used in court.