Muslim baptized by pope says he wanted to show others not to fear

Published: 2008-03-25

ROME (CNS) -- The Muslim-born journalist baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at the Easter Vigil said he wanted a public conversion to convince other former Muslims not to be afraid of practicing their new Christian faith. But a representative of a group of Muslim scholars who recently launched a new dialogue with the Vatican said the prominence given to the baptism of Magdi Allam, a frequent critic of Islam, raises disturbing questions. Allam, 55, was one of seven adults baptized by the pope March 22 in St. Peter's Basilica. Aref Ali Nayed, a spokesman for the 138 Muslim scholars who initiated the Common Word dialogue project last October and who established the Catholic-Muslim Forum for dialogue with the Vatican in early March, said conversion is a private matter, but the very public way in which Allam was baptized appeared "deliberate and provocative." However, according to a front-page article March 25 in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, signed by Giovanni Maria Vian, the editor, Allam's decision to be baptized and the Vatican's decision to include him in the papal ceremony did not carry with it any "hostile intention in the face of a great religion like Islam."

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