High-Profile Figure Under Threat Due To Conversion

On Easter Eve, the Pope traditionally baptizes new converts to Christianity. This season Pope Benedict baptized seven adults, one of which was Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Allam, one of Italy's best-known intellectuals and deputy director of the its leading newspapers, Corriere della Sera.

Allam, who has been a fierce critic of Islamic extremism, a supporter of Israel, and a defender of the Pope when in 2006 the Pope described the Muslim faith as being violent, is now under protection of the police due to threats he has received. In fact, Allam's conversion was kept secret and not disclosed by the Vatican until an hour before the Easter eve service started.

Reuters reports that Allam, whom some have called the Italy's Salmon Rushdie, has been living in Italy for 35 years, and has said he was never a very devout Muslim. Still, his conversion to Christianity came as a surprise.

"What amazes me is the high profile the Vatican has given this conversion," Yaha Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice-president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community, told Reuters.


Submitted by kmacginn at Hummers & Cigarettes