C
ChasNemo
Guest
Salman Rushdie's book has been upstaged! Surely all Hell will break
out over this one!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pope baptizes prominent Muslim; Iconoclastic commentator has spoken
out against extremists.
Alessandra Tarantino / AP - updated 7:02 p.m. ET March 22, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Easter vigil mass in St. Peter's
Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.
VATICAN CITY - Italy's most prominent Muslim commentator, who has long
spoken out against Islamic fanaticism and received death threats as a
result, converted to Roman Catholicism on Saturday during the
Vatican's Easter vigil service presided over by the pope.
Magdi Allam, 55, is the deputy editor of the Corriere della Sera
newspaper and writes often on Muslim and Arab affairs. He was born a
Muslim in Egypt, but was educated by Catholics and says he has never
been a practicing Muslim.
Allam's criticism of Palestinian terrorism prompted the Italian
government to provide him with a sizable security detail in 2003,
after Hamas singled him out for elimination, Allam told the Il
Giornale newspaper in a December interview.
Pope Benedict XVI baptized Allam and six other adults during the
service in St. Peter's Basilica. The Easter vigil marks the period
between Good Friday, which commemorates Jesus' crucifixion, and Easter
Sunday, which marks his resurrection.
As a choir sang, Benedict poured holy water over Allam's head and said
a brief prayer in Latin.
No longer 'in opposition'
In his homily, Benedict reflected on the meaning of baptism, saying
through the sacrament, the Lord enters into the heart of the new
Catholic.
"We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another,"
Benedict said. "Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in
the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have
become close."
As he pronounced the words, Vatican television zoomed in on Allam, who
sat in the front row of the basilica along with the other candidates
for baptism.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said of Allam
before the service that anyone who chooses to become a Catholic of his
or her own free will has the right to receive the sacrament.
Lombardi said the pope administers the sacrament "without making any
'difference of people,' that is, considering all equally important
before the love of God and welcoming all in the community of the
Church."
Complicated relationship with Islam
In the Il Giornale interview, Allam explained his complicated
relationship with Islam and his affinity for Israel.
"I was never practicing," he was quoted as saying. "I never prayed
five times a day, facing Mecca. I never fasted during Ramadan." Yet he
said he did make the pilgrimage to Mecca, as is required of all
Muslims, with his deeply religious mother in 1991.
Married to a Catholic with a young son named Davide and two adult
children from his first marriage, Allam indicated in the interview
that he would have no problem converting to Christianity. He confessed
he had even received Communion once -- when he was 13 or 14 -- "even
though I knew it was an act of blasphemy, not having been baptized."
Allam also explained his decision to entitle a recent book "Viva
Israel" or "Long Live Israel," saying he wrote it after he received
the death threats from Hamas.
In 2006, Allam was a co-winner, with three other journalists, of the
$1 million Dan David prize, named for the Israeli entrepreneur of the
same name. Allam was cited for "his ceaseless work in fostering
understanding and tolerance between cultures."
Apostasy under one interpretation
There is no overarching Muslim law on conversion. But under a
widespread interpretation of Islamic legal doctrine, converting from
Islam is apostasy and punishable by death -- though killings are rare.
Egypt's highest Islamic cleric, the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, wrote last
year against the killing of apostates, saying there is no worldly
retribution for Muslims who abandon their religion and that punishment
would come in the afterlife.
Reaction to Allam's conversion was largely muted from Italy's Muslim
community.
The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy -- which Allam has frequently
criticized as having links to Hamas -- said the baptism was a personal
choice. "He is an adult, free to make his personal choice," the Apcom
news agency quoted the group's spokesman, Issedin El Zir as saying.
Osama bin Laden said in a new audio message posted Wednesday that
drawings that he said insulted the Prophet Muhammad took place in the
framework of a "new Crusade" against Islam, in which he said the pope
has played a "large and lengthy role."
Lombardi said Thursday that bin Laden's accusation about the pope was
baseless. He said Benedict repeatedly criticized the Muhammad
cartoons, first published in some European newspapers in 2006 and
republished by Danish papers in February.
out over this one!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pope baptizes prominent Muslim; Iconoclastic commentator has spoken
out against extremists.
Alessandra Tarantino / AP - updated 7:02 p.m. ET March 22, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Easter vigil mass in St. Peter's
Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.
VATICAN CITY - Italy's most prominent Muslim commentator, who has long
spoken out against Islamic fanaticism and received death threats as a
result, converted to Roman Catholicism on Saturday during the
Vatican's Easter vigil service presided over by the pope.
Magdi Allam, 55, is the deputy editor of the Corriere della Sera
newspaper and writes often on Muslim and Arab affairs. He was born a
Muslim in Egypt, but was educated by Catholics and says he has never
been a practicing Muslim.
Allam's criticism of Palestinian terrorism prompted the Italian
government to provide him with a sizable security detail in 2003,
after Hamas singled him out for elimination, Allam told the Il
Giornale newspaper in a December interview.
Pope Benedict XVI baptized Allam and six other adults during the
service in St. Peter's Basilica. The Easter vigil marks the period
between Good Friday, which commemorates Jesus' crucifixion, and Easter
Sunday, which marks his resurrection.
As a choir sang, Benedict poured holy water over Allam's head and said
a brief prayer in Latin.
No longer 'in opposition'
In his homily, Benedict reflected on the meaning of baptism, saying
through the sacrament, the Lord enters into the heart of the new
Catholic.
"We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another,"
Benedict said. "Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in
the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have
become close."
As he pronounced the words, Vatican television zoomed in on Allam, who
sat in the front row of the basilica along with the other candidates
for baptism.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said of Allam
before the service that anyone who chooses to become a Catholic of his
or her own free will has the right to receive the sacrament.
Lombardi said the pope administers the sacrament "without making any
'difference of people,' that is, considering all equally important
before the love of God and welcoming all in the community of the
Church."
Complicated relationship with Islam
In the Il Giornale interview, Allam explained his complicated
relationship with Islam and his affinity for Israel.
"I was never practicing," he was quoted as saying. "I never prayed
five times a day, facing Mecca. I never fasted during Ramadan." Yet he
said he did make the pilgrimage to Mecca, as is required of all
Muslims, with his deeply religious mother in 1991.
Married to a Catholic with a young son named Davide and two adult
children from his first marriage, Allam indicated in the interview
that he would have no problem converting to Christianity. He confessed
he had even received Communion once -- when he was 13 or 14 -- "even
though I knew it was an act of blasphemy, not having been baptized."
Allam also explained his decision to entitle a recent book "Viva
Israel" or "Long Live Israel," saying he wrote it after he received
the death threats from Hamas.
In 2006, Allam was a co-winner, with three other journalists, of the
$1 million Dan David prize, named for the Israeli entrepreneur of the
same name. Allam was cited for "his ceaseless work in fostering
understanding and tolerance between cultures."
Apostasy under one interpretation
There is no overarching Muslim law on conversion. But under a
widespread interpretation of Islamic legal doctrine, converting from
Islam is apostasy and punishable by death -- though killings are rare.
Egypt's highest Islamic cleric, the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, wrote last
year against the killing of apostates, saying there is no worldly
retribution for Muslims who abandon their religion and that punishment
would come in the afterlife.
Reaction to Allam's conversion was largely muted from Italy's Muslim
community.
The Union of Islamic Communities in Italy -- which Allam has frequently
criticized as having links to Hamas -- said the baptism was a personal
choice. "He is an adult, free to make his personal choice," the Apcom
news agency quoted the group's spokesman, Issedin El Zir as saying.
Osama bin Laden said in a new audio message posted Wednesday that
drawings that he said insulted the Prophet Muhammad took place in the
framework of a "new Crusade" against Islam, in which he said the pope
has played a "large and lengthy role."
Lombardi said Thursday that bin Laden's accusation about the pope was
baseless. He said Benedict repeatedly criticized the Muhammad
cartoons, first published in some European newspapers in 2006 and
republished by Danish papers in February.
