The prosecution said the 25-year-old man, an asylum seeker, was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

The man told the court in Stuttgart, southern Germany on the opening day of the trial that God had told him to attack the Tamil-dominated congregation in the city in April because some of the female churchgoers were wearing skimpy clothes.

He said God had told him that "something wrong is happening in the church, go in there and tell them".

The voice had also said: "The women are dressing sexily, cut them with a sword."

A 43-year-old woman was killed in the frenzied attack while a 25-year-old man had one of his hands severed, but it was re-attached in a 16-hour operation.

Two other churchgoers only survived after emergency operations.

Prosecutors said the 70-strong congregation had watched a film about the Indian Ocean tsunami shortly before the accused burst in.

The court heard the man may have acted because he was furious at being rejected by the family of a woman he had wanted to marry. The family attended the church.

He had threatened the family several times and was fined in 2004 for his behaviour.

The man had visited the church twice before the attack, but police said there was nothing to suggest he was about to carry out such a bloody attack.

Given the man's mental state, the trial is largely to determine how long he will be incarcerated in a specialist institution.

A verdict is expected on December 14.

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