Buenos Aires, Argentina, Apr 1, 2008 / 17:04 pm
In an interview with the Argnentinean daily La Nacion, Italian journalist Magdi Christian Allam, the Muslim convert baptized by Pope Benedict XVI during the Easter Vigil, said the Pope played a key role in his conversion despite the fact that prior to his baptism he had never met the Pontiff.
Allam explained that his conversion was “a slow and gradual process. Since I was little I was aware of the Catholic world because I went to Italian-run Catholic schools in Cairo…and this allowed me to learn about the Catholic religion from the inside in a correct way.”
However, he pointed to two factors that influenced his conversion: the threats he received for questioning Islam, and the person of Pope Benedict XVI.
The threats he began receiving beginning in 2003 led him to reflect not only on the reality of Islamic extremism and terrorism but also on Islam as a religion. “I was forced to analyze the Koran and the works and thoughts of Mohammed, and I discovered that there are profound ambiguities that allow for violence and terrorism to be legitimized.”