Catholic ChurcH: Popecould be arrested when he visits Britain in September

Richard Dawkins, the British scientist and Christopher Hitchens, the British-American author and journalist - both vocal atheists - support efforts to ascertain whether Pope Benedict XVI can be arrested and tried when he comes to Britain in September.

Hitchens is paying lawyers to look into the possibility of prosecuting the pope for crimes against humanity in the wake of the sex abuse scandal that has embroiled the Catholic Church worldwide. While Dawkins is not contributing financially, he says on his Web site that he "wholeheartedly supports it." Hitchens has hired human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson QC and solicitor Mark Stephens from the London law firm Finers, Stephens Innocent, who both believe they can make a case against the pope.

"It is clearly a crime against humanity to be complicit in the cover-up of a crime against humanity, and that would be susceptible to being heard before the ICC [International Criminal Court] in The Hague" Stephens told Deutsche Welle.

For more: Prominent British atheists endorse efforts to seek pope's arrest | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 12.04.2010