Benedict XVI baptises Italy’s most prominent Muslim at Easter service in Vatican

ITALY’S most prominent Muslim, an iconoclastic writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, has converted to Catholicism in a baptism carried out by the Pope at a Vatican Easter service.

An Egyptian-born, non-practising Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book Long Live Israel.

As a choir sang, Pope Benedict XVI poured holy water over Mr Allam’s head and said a brief prayer in Latin.

“We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another,” Pope Benedict said in a homily reflecting on the meaning of baptism. “Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have become close.”

Mr Allam, 55, said in a December interview that his criticism of Palestinian suicide bombing provoked threats on his life in 2003, prompting the Italian government to provide him with a sizable security detail.

The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, which Mr Allam has frequently criticised as having links to Hamas, said the baptism was his own decision.

“He is an adult, free to make his personal choice,” the group’s spokesman, Issedin El Zir, was quoted as saying.